The Midas Touch
by laheying
Summary: "There's one thing you've overlooked about Aurora, James. She'll touch your life for a fleeting second, and she makes you drowsy. She'll get bored, and she will leave you, so you'll wake back up to your life in a golden blaze."
1. roots

roots

"it's lonely at the top but you can't fuckin' beat the luxury," – intro, tinie tempah.

Marina smiled at her dad.

"You're going to make a lovely little witch. You're so talented." He smiled, the crinkles in his forehead became apparent as the muscles contracted and relaxed. His eyes seemed distracted and the dark hair on his head had begun greying in the corners. What her dad had failed to add was 'at Divination'.

Mr Wicking was an incredibly dull man. He worked nine to five every weekday at the Daily Prophet. As far as Marina knew, he worked in the owl department. It was his job to look after the pigeon holes for those who ordered daily copies of the Daily Prophet. At least, that was what she thought he did. She constantly zoned out whenever her father spoke about it.

On the contrary, Marina found her mother's career path to be much more satisfying. She sponged up everything her mother told her about her days reading tea leaves and looking into crystal balls. Marina was four her mother noticed her aptitude for Divination. She had picked up her father's teacup and gurgled a reading from them. Marina had been behind her age group in literacy since she was born and her numeracy skills weren't any better.

Marina moved away from her father's outstretched arms and said goodbye to her mother. She had insisted to herself that she wasn't going to cry, because crying was for babies and babies did not go to Hogwarts. Babies stayed at home and cried and she was not going to cry.

Instead of speaking English, like she had with her boring father, Marina was hasty to spit out some Italian and run. Her father had already put her trunk onto the train and she had found a compartment. They had arrived a good hour than necessary so she had an adept amount of time to find a seat.

She waved goodbye as she stepped onto the train and located her compartment. All throughout her life, Marina had been around other people and this sudden hole inside her made her ache for human company. If it wasn't to be with others, she certainly could watch them, couldn't she? Marina moved back to the door and peeked up out of the window. Things were finally starting to get busier and she worried that if she waited any longer that she'd lose her seat.

Her attention flickered for a brief moment as a pretty boy, around twelve, entered Platform 9 and ¾. Marina couldn't see much of his face but he was built like a rake. His body shape didn't vary until her eyes reached his shoulders. He was tall for his age, perhaps 160 centimetres, although Marina was useless when it came to estimation. She thought she was useless at everything, except for Divination and she already knew she couldn't take that class until third year.

However, while Marina fantasized about what she was going to do when she started studying Divination, two people screamed at each other from separate ends of the station. Everyone's attention moved to them, including Marina's, as they quarrelled.

* * *

Charlie Whitlock let his mother plant a soppy kiss on the top of his head before he hauled his trunk onto the train. He had arrived early in the hopes of getting a compartment that wasn't packed with stupid firsties.

He pushed past a tiny fragile thing of a girl and almost knocked her over. He walked past, ignoring her curiously odd eyes and her inquisitive stare. Charlie found an empty compartment and hefted his trunk up onto the racks. It took ten more minutes before he was joined by his best friend, Elliot and another twenty before Molly Weasley cropped up. His thoughts had turned to the small girl he knocked over, but he quickly reassured himself that she was in _his _way. Yes. She wasn't his problem.

* * *

After several peculiar methods of travel: a train, a walk and a boat ride, Marina found herself inside Hogwarts at last. The Sorting was the most stressful part of her day. It was because Marina had her father's last name of Wicking that meant she was to be the last person to be sorted.

After a good hundred students later, it was finally Marina's turn. She stepped up to the stool with her perfect uniform and sat down with the hat on her head.

Charlie wondered what was so special about this kid that meant she delayed dinner for a further six minutes. Eventually it called out, "Slytherin." He thought that he recognised her but he wasn't entirely sure. Everyone's face blurred together at the start of the year.

* * *

Marina was sat in fourth period Transfiguration when Professor McGonagall called her out of class and sat her down.

"Now, I hate to be the deliverer of bad news Marina, but I'm afraid your parents are getting divorced." She waited for the hit to make contact.

Instead of screaming, asking why or crying, Marina simply tilted her head in that birdlike manner she was renowned for and stared quizzically at her Headmistress. Professor McGonagall had heard all about Marina in the staff room. Everything, from the way she fidgeted in classes and constantly zoned out to her curious, interpretive looks. Every single teacher she had had commented on how undiscerning she was when it came to others and how uncomfortable it made them when she fixed her different coloured iris' on them in that blank manner.

"So what's going to happen to me?" She asked after a while. "I can't be shared, can I?"

"It's looking like you'll stay with your mother for most of your holidays and stay with your father for a week or two."

Marina's face fell.

* * *

It took a total of three weeks for the news to really hit Marina. Her grades went from A's all the way down to D's. She was leaving third period History of Magic when she got her first detention.

"Hey, Marina, do you want to come and sit with us at lunch?"

She turned to be face-to-face with none other than James Sirius Potter and his entourage. James was infamous for milking the fact he was the _Chosen One's_ son and eldest. Marina wanted nothing to do with him. She had established that it was second year History of Magic with Slytherins and Ravenclaws after their lesson and she used the opportunity to her advantage. She stopped walking directly in front of Molly Weasley, who was stood talking to a boy named Elliot and Charlie.

"I wouldn't sit with you at lunch over my dead body, you fucking moron. Why don't you run along, grow a pair and stop bothering me, you useless Gryffindor." She heard Charlie laugh and she turned her fury on him as James scuttled away. "What the fuck do you want?"

"I've never heard a first year with a mouth quite like yours."

"Of course you haven't, I'm one of a kind," she said narcissistically. "Now, why don't you and your lover here go down in History?" She gestured to Elliot and Molly burst into laughter.

"She's better than you are, Charlie."

Marina turned and stormed off with a pout, despite the fact she was squealing with joy inside. Unlike most of the people Marina knew, confrontation satisfied her.

* * *

Returning home was Marina's real problem that summer. She wasn't sure where she was living, who she was supposed to be going home with or any of those frivolous details. She said goodbye to Tessa, who had befriended her in the first few hours of the train journey to Hogwarts and shared a dorm with her.

Marina saw her father first. He stood beside an oddly-placed potted plant, dressed in an odd combination of Muggle clothes. It was then that Marina saw her mother and she gravitated towards her.

"Hello dear. Hold on to your case, we're flooing to Italy. You're finally going to see your inheritance. Are you excited?"

* * *

Regardless, that summer Marina moved over to Italy with her mother, took her mother's maiden name and the two estranged themselves from Ben Wicking, a now ex-husband and father to two of the most vengeful people in Europe. Marina used her middle name as her first, changed her last name and returned to Hogwarts in second year, feeling like a whole new person. That was how she became Aurora Bianchi, the worst person to upset in the whole school.

* * *

A/N: If you're new to this story, then hello, if you're re-reading this because of chapter 11, hello! There are about 27/28 chapters of this until the story is completed. I classified this as **M** for the following reasons: adultery, suggestive scenes, frequent swearing and references to violence and drugs.  
Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter universe. My OC's and the plot are the only things I can take any form of credit for.


	2. inauguration

inauguration

Aurora watched a bird flutter past her bedroom window, silhouetted against the purple backdrop of the deepening twilight. The heat of having the house on the French-Italian border had settled the building and it's occupants into a sleepy haze, which set the perfect conditions for Aurora Senior's Seer business.

Aurora had exiled herself to her room for the day as her mother had a client and she liked to pretend her mother's job didn't exist. Banishing herself wasn't the worst that Aurora could do. Her room was enormous, taking up fair portion of the east wing of the house. The size of the room was only rivalled by the entrance hall, a room so large that it instilled fear into even the bravest of hearts.

The décor in Aurora's bedroom was lavish, just like the rest of the barely walked-in house. No two pieces of the wallpaper were the same in Aurora's room; each had its own intricate floral pattern that laced in with the pieces next to it. A candle, marketed to smell like honey and chocolate sat on the table by the bay window. It flickered as Aurora moved to her bed to pack the rest of her trunk and brushed up against the brocaded curtains. They had been a name-day present from a rich great-aunt, no less. Everyone and anyone who was a member of the Bianchi family had enough money to spend on frivolous things like expensive curtains. However, Great-Aunt Ernesta had refused to have them put up anywhere but the Bianchi Manor, using the excuse that they would look out of place at the Wicking home in Godric's Hollow.

Someone – or something knocked on Aurora's door, hard enough to make the crystal chandelier quiver. Aurora crossed the room in a few seconds, her barstool-legs making short time of the distance. She seized the crystal doorknob and flung the mahogany door open, revealing a terrified house elf in the corridor.

"Yes?" Aurora demanded, only worsening the servants trembling.

"Missy say that dinner is ready."

Missy was one of the many house elves that had come with the house. She refused most pay, only accepting one galleon a month. Any extra money that Aurora Senior tried throwing her way was found again in odd little places, between floorboards, in the toes of socks and even under pillows.

"Fine. I'll be down in a few minutes. Is mother there?"

"Madam Aurora is finishing up with her client and then she says she will join you in the dining room."

"Sure. How long will she be?" Aurora asked the elf as she licked her fingers and pinched the flame out. She wiped her sooty fingers on the bare skin of her thigh and picked up a thin dark green cardigan from the foot of her four-poster bed and tugged it on as she walked.

"Blinky does not know, miss."

"Fine. I'll see myself to the dining room." She said as she shut her door behind her and turned to lock it. As often as Aurora saw the house elves, she still didn't like them messing with her things. Her room was organised to her standards and it would remain like that until she moved; if she did ever move. She was an only child and she liked it that way. There was no-one to share with. Aurora had been the poster girl for selfishness and narcissism from a young age, a result that had mainly been catalysed by her maternal side of the family.

She tucked the old key into the back pocket of her shorts and fought through the web of corridors to the dining room. She took her seat at one end of the gold-leafed table in a plum coloured high-backed velvet chair and waited for her mother to arrive.

* * *

"Marina, have you packed up your trunk?" Aurora's mother asked from the doorway the next morning.

Aurora momentarily pouted but ignored the use of her 'proper' forename. "Yes. Are we flooing?"

"No, I think you're quite used to Apparition by now."

"Alright. Am I to be trusted with shrinking my suitcase to pocket-size?"

"After your OWL results, I think not."

"Fine. It's outside my door. Just don't shrink the door with it." Aurora smiled, suppressing her smirk and gestured to the doorway. Her mother muttered an incantation and Aurora's trunk shrunk down to fit in the palm of her hand.

"We'll apparate now so you can find your friends. Are you ready?"

Aurora skipped across her room, through the doorway and locked the door behind her. She secured the key in her back pocket and tucked the shrunken trunk alongside it. She paused for contemplation and then offered her mother her arm. Her mother took it and apparated, the feeling of being forced through a rubber tube lasted for a few seconds before the pair landed behind a pillar at Platform 9 & ¾.

"Now darling, do you remember what I said about your NEWTS?"

"Yes, mother. I understood it."

"And if you have any problems with any of your teachers, you give me an owl, alright? Especially with your Muggle Studies one. Why you had to take that useless NEWT is beyond me, but just try to get an A, alright?"

"I can't promise anything, mama." Aurora smiled at her mother and inclined her head a little so she could kiss her on the top of the head.

"If you grow any more I swear I'm going to have to get back into my heels! Off you go!"

Aurora grinned at her mother, kissed her on the cheek and bid her goodbye before she disapparated.

* * *

"Are you serious?" Albus hissed at his older brother as the pair waited on the train platform for their younger sister to catch up.

"No, I'm James. You know Sirius is my middle name."

"Oh piss off!" Albus said as he stormed into the train carriage, slamming the door behind him. They had bid goodbye to their parents a few minutes earlier and now James was trying to be responsible and ensure that all of his siblings were herded up onto the train.

Lily was probably waiting for Aurora to appear so she could go off with her and her group of friends. She hadn't sat with James since her first trip to Hogwarts, a few years back.

"How was your summer, Lily?" The all-too-familiar voice of Aurora Bianchi asked as she and Lily approached James.

"Oh, it was alright. How was yours?"

"Oh, it was great. I went to Milan for two weeks and I got to laze around for most of my summer. I didn't do much else. It was great. Tessa and Lysander stayed round for a couple of days. I'll tell you more about it on the train if you want."

Lily nodded eagerly and for a brief moment, James wished that he could've traded positions with Lysander Scamander for a few days. Anything to see Aurora out of her school uniform and perhaps in something a little skimpier. Unfortunately for James, that right had effectively been reserved by Charlie Whitlock, the rumoured Head Boy. He had once threatened Lorcan after he had flirted with Aurora as a joke at dinner. There was no doubt that he was going to be the talk of James' compartment for more than his fair share of the journey.

"Hello James," she said, her voice lilting with her slight accent.

"Uh, hi." James felt flustered. If anything, she had become even more attractive over the holidays. She had pulled her dark hair out of her face with a French braid, so it didn't fall into her oddly-coloured eyes or onto her slightly freckled cheeks. Her skin had kept its natural olive tone, which James had discovered through Lily was due to her half-Italian heritage.

"Do you mind moving? We have to get to the Slytherin carriage and you're blocking the way." Aurora pointed out and gestured for him to move.

"Oh. Uh, sorry." James moved to the left, trying to keep his jaw attached. She had actually spoken to him for more than ten seconds. Sure, she might've been biting back insults about his idiocy but she hadn't and that was what amazed him.

"Aurora!" Someone called out from across the station, above the roar of the crowd.

Aurora swivelled and settled her sights on a girl James knew to be named Tessa Greengrass. She had kissed him once in fourth year on a dare and he had admittedly felt nothing for it. Although the looks that Tessa sent him every lesson made him think differently on how she felt. She was an average-sized, average-looking girl, with pin-straight blonde hair and rich brown eyes. James had never considered her to be attractive, especially after fawning over Aurora for several years.

"Hi Tessa!" Aurora smiled and embraced the smaller girl, kissing her on the cheek. "We were just about to go and claim a carriage before the newbies caught up with us."

"Lysander'll kick some out for you if you need it," Tessa replied, her voice more boyish than Aurora's or Lily's.

"Oh, that's why I keep Charlie around. That and certain –" Aurora cast a sideways glance towards James and tugged the shoulder of her cardigan up. "Other tasks are all he's particularly useful for."

"Like keeping you out of detention?"

"Well I don't mind detention if it's Trelawney or Lupin. They just let me clean their rooms." Aurora shrugged and smiled Tessa's comments of 'But Lupin never lets me clean his classroom' off. "Shall we get a carriage? I'm sure Lysander will catch up with us."

The three girls climbed onto the train and shut the door behind them, leaving James to wait for his friends.

* * *

The train hurtled through the countryside, past oblivious Muggle towns and stations. It chugged to a halt after several hours of uncomfortable seats, conversation and company. Aurora glanced out of the window.

"We're nowhere near Hogsmeade. Why's the train stopped?" She asked, meaning for it to be a rhetorical question.

"Maybe there's something on the tracks or something like it. I'm sure it'll be moving in a minute," Lysander said without looking up from his copy of the Quibbler.

Aurora leant back in her seat, tapping her foot impatiently. "Sure. Whatever. Hey is that a quiz on Muggles?" She asked as Lysander flicked the page.

"Yeah. I helped write it so I know all the answers," Lysander replied as he flicked the next page.

"Bor-ing."

"If you want to go and find Charlie you can," Tessa said, glancing up at Aurora and Lily. Lily had sat with them since her trip home from first year. Aurora had practically adopted her as she had done very well in her year's initiation and had been considered as a sterling example out of all of the Slytherins, barring Aurora, Tessa and Charlie.

"Thanks. If I'm not back in fifteen minutes, assume I have been kidnapped by Gryffindors or first years or something."

"Alright. See you." Lysander muttered as Aurora shut the compartment door behind her and stepped out into the corridor.

Aurora walked through the train, hastily surveying the insides of each compartment and the people inside so often that it made her feel ill. Eventually she found Charlie, sitting and talking with almost all of the previous year's Slytherin Quidditch team. He had been the prized beater since second year, with impeccable aim and an outstanding ability to actually hit the bludgers. The five boys turned when Aurora opened the compartment door.

"What, no seat for me?" she asked. She hadn't been on the team, but she was well-known throughout Slytherin and sat next to Charlie, right on the peak of their houses' infrastructure.

"Well there's always my lap," Charlie grinned. "How was your summer?"

"Same old, same old. Spent some time with Tess and Xand. How was your summer?" Aurora said as she sat down on Charlie's lap.

"It was alright. I was waiting for you to arrive actually; I wanted to show you what I got over the summer when you were all together."

Aurora frowned but waited for Charlie to rummage around in his trouser pocket for whatever it was. After a couple of uncomfortable seconds, Charlie pulled out a shiny badge.

"I got Head Boy!" He grinned and let Aurora take the badge from him.

"Well done." She smiled back, passing the badge on to Elliot Masters, the Slytherin keeper.

Elliot was tall and muscular, although he had more all-round strength in comparison to the beaters and the chasers, who all had broader shoulders and upper arm strength. The previous year's seeker had been small, light on her feet and had Quidditch blood coursing through her heart: the one and only, Lily Potter. She had served as Slytherin's star seeker in the last year, forcing Gryffindor to give up their reigning title of Quidditch Champions by snatching the Snitch out from under her elder brother's nose.

"So what are you doing tonight?" Charlie asked, moving a hand to Aurora's waist.

"Well not you. Maybe another night."

Despite looking crestfallen, Charlie continued their conversation as though nothing had happened. "How'd you do in your OWLs? If you didn't pass Divination I'm going to have to take a trip to the Ministry."

"I passed Divination, Charlie! There's no need for a protest march. I got an O, thank you very much. I failed most of the rest without much effort."

"Well that's great news. I hope you passed the ones that you needed to."

"I did pass the ones I needed to. It's not like Lupin to kick me off a course."

"I know, but I still don't like him." Charlie grumbled; his voice lowering.

"You don't have to like him. You have to tolerate him. He's the Muggle Studies teacher; I doubt he's going to do anything irrational in class or in detention." Aurora tried to fight the blood rushing to her cheeks.

Charlie shrugged, turned to face the Quidditch team and accepted his badge back from one of the chasers. He rested his chin on Aurora's shoulder and whispered in her ear.

"Not tonight? Are you kidding me? Do you have any idea how difficult it was without you all summer?"

"I'm sure your hand was a decent replacement. It can last you another night."

Charlie chuckled. "God I really do love your sense of humour."

Aurora grinned. "I know. Please save any comments you wish to make about letting my hair run free along my back or anything similar to that for when I'm actually in the mood."

"And how am I supposed to know when you're in the mood?"

"We'll be in bed."

Charlie smiled. He had admittedly been in love with her since his third year and she had forcibly woken the third-year boys dorm to help her 'break in the first years', a movement that had officially been dubbed 'Initiation'.

The train jerked back into motion, a movement that startled everyone in the compartment.

"Well I should get back to patrol or else Sophia will have my hide," Charlie said to Aurora.

"'S alright. I should be getting back to Tess and Xand."

"Want me to walk you down there?"

"Nah, I'll be fine."

"That wasn't a question sweetie."

Aurora gave him a judgmental smile and bid goodbye to the others, promising to sit near them at dinner. She left the compartment with Charlie and the pair walked down several train carriages before reaching Aurora's, the two barely acknowledging each other.

"Hey," Charlie said, catching hold of Aurora's arm. "Are you alright? You seemed a little off a minute ago."

"I'm fine honey. Just not up to socialising today."

Charlie smiled and kissed her on the forehead. "I'll come and check on you in an hour, okay? If I don't, I'll see you at the feast."

* * *

Charlie was right. He did, eventually see Aurora again at the feast. The Sorting took place, with Aurora setting up a betting pool on how many first years there were going to be. The total came to twenty-one, a fine enough number, with eleven girls and ten boys. The Hufflepuffs had taken about thirty-four in, the Ravenclaws getting twenty-nine and the Gryffindors taking in the most with a grand total of forty.

"There's quite a lot of Gryffindors this year, isn't there?" Tessa pointed out as she flirted with Louis Weasley across the Hall.

"Yeah, but it's not like any of them can do anything threatening. You're prefect, don't forget you can dock points if you catch them running in a corridor," Charlie replied, grinning.

"I can actually do that?" Tessa asked, incredulous. "I got prefect last year and no-one told me this!"

Charlie, Aurora and Lysander laughed.

"Yeah, silly," Charlie replied. "You can dock points and if it's really necessary, report people to me so I can give them detention."

"Sweet! How many times can I dock points from Pottsie for untidy uniform?"

"Whenever you see him, provided his uniform isn't neat. Just make sure yours is!" Charlie pointed to Tessa's top button and loose tie.

"You can talk!" Tessa replied, gesturing to his untidy uniform.

"Whatever. Do you two still want me to pitch forward the idea for Heads of Houses at my meeting on Friday?"

Tessa and Aurora exchanged a quick glance before nodding in unison.

"I don't see why not. We can make it an internal thing. Nominate your own and have the houses take their own plebiscite. It seems easy enough. No teacher intervention, I'm assuming."

"Nope. I'm going to avoid pointing that out."

"And avoid uniform," Aurora replied, the unofficial-Head-Girl-of-Slytherin-hat already focusing her thoughts. "If Sophia brings up skirt lengths, just remind her that it won't help her constant questioning of her sexuality."

Charlie looked at her like she was insane. "There's nothing wrong with staring at some butts. I stare at your butt all the time." He pointed out.

"Yeah, but Charles, we've seen each other naked. There's a difference."

Charlie shrugged. "Yeah. I guess. What time's initiation running tonight?"

"I was thinking around one am, but on second thoughts, that's being far too lenient to them. How does quarter to two sound?"

Charlie considered it. Tessa had turned away from them to talk with the sixth year boys.

"Sounds fine. I think I have the Horn."

"You bloody well better, I looked everywhere for it over the summer and I thought I had to buy a new one," Aurora replied. "Meet you in the common room at half two."

* * *

Several hours later, after leading a herd of delicate-looking first years to their rooms, Aurora, Tessa, Charlie and a small group of others congregated in the Slytherin Common Room.

The room was considered to be odd in comparison with the rest of the school, and presumably the other common rooms. Lanterns with green shutters hung from the high ceiling, casting large, faint shadows. They worked in harmony with the candle sconces that had been placed around the room with exactly two-point-five-five metres separating one from the next. Apparently the walls in the common room had once been slimy and cold, but after a distinct lack of imagination with the first ever initiation, it had been redecorated. Wallpaper with patterns of greens and golds and silvers adorned the walls, giving it a richer feel. The chairs had been restored to their original beauty by a rather helpful group of fifth-years when Aurora was in second year.

The scheme of the Slytherin's common room was simplistic in comparison to the rich, overly-decorated corridors and classrooms.

The assembled team opened up the 'Initiation Kit' and began unpacking it onto a low table that had been placed in the centre of an arrangement of green velvet chairs and sofas.

"Right. I'll see to the girls now and come back up so we can deal with the boys together. Understand?" Aurora said as she picked up a large horn from the table and moved towards the dormitory stairs, without bothering to wait for anyone's consent.

* * *

Aurora raised the Horn. It had been promoted to noun status after the fourth year incident when a new kid had pissed themselves in fear. It blared out, waking the floor with a shriek.

"Wakey wakey kids! The next few weeks, we're going to be testing how fit you are for Slytherin. That shitty hat has told you that you're destined for greatness, but let's overlook that fact for a while. There are no rules. Do whatever the fuck you want to complete a task. Preferably without murdering anyone. Here's your first task, darlings: the first ten new Slytherins that bring me or Charlie a Gryffindor tie – each of you – will be crossed off the chalkboard upstairs. When you're crossed out, you're in the clear. The other eleven of you are gonna have to do dirtier tasks Welcome to initiation, bitches."

* * *

A/N: Hope you enjoyed. Reviews are appreciated!  
Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter universe. My OC's and the plot are the only things I can take any form of credit for.


	3. teapot

teapot

Aurora settled down to breakfast with Charlie and Tessa. Lysander had been sleeping in when the girls had gone down to call on him, so he hadn't joined them. They had been in the hall for less than a minute before they had been handed Gryffindor ties by six first years. Charlie had jotted their names down and told them that they were in the clear.

"I'll be back in a minute, Sluggy wants me to talk to him," Charlie said. He excused himself and headed towards the teacher's table.

"'Rora, you need to warn me if you're going back to Charlie's any time soon. I think Bella's trying to organise an intervention."

"An intervention? Jeez I'm not gone that often, am I?"

"Bella seems to think you are."

"Yeah, well, Bella can suck my dick."

"She seems to think you're sucking Charlie's."

Aurora rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Can we drop this please?" She asked as Charlie walked back, clutching a stack of papers.

"Timetables," he mouthed as he handed them out to students along the table. He reached the two girls again in a record of fifteen minutes and passed the two of them their timetables.

"Oh, sweet! Divination first, then Muggle Studies. I practically have the rest of the day free until Astronomy at night," Aurora said, pecking Charlie on the cheek. "I can't wait."

* * *

"Good morning," Professor Trelawney said to the small gathering of sixth years seated across her room. "Shall we warm up with a tea reading exercise?"

Aurora resisted the urge to sigh and walked over to get teacups, tea and a teapot for her to share with Tess. Reading tea leaves was Trelawney's favourite activity, only on par with reading the crystal ball. She returned to her table and prepared the tea, pouring it out before anyone else had managed to get it steeping in their teapots.

"Enjoy. I promise I didn't put anything in it this time." Aurora grinned as she clinked teacups with Tessa.

"I hope not. Care of Magical Creatures will never be the same. I can't look at a Crup without seeing some weird four-headed freaky green thing anymore," Tessa confessed.

"Maybe it was some freaky four-headed green thing?" Aurora suggested as she sipped her tea and grimaced at the taste.

"Oh shut up. It was not some four-headed beast; it was a Crup, thank you very much. Have you finished your tea yet?"

"No. Give me a minute. This new tea is terrible."

Tessa rolled her eyes but finished her tea and swirled the dregs around the bottom of the cup. "Pass me your cup when you're done. Might as well test my Inner Eye again. It's a bit rusty after me not using it all summer. You're lucky your mum's a Seer, 'Rora. So bloody lucky."

Aurora laughed, but dropped the conversation to finish her tea. She could've done with some sugar cubes but tolerated the bitter, burning liquid. She'd had worse tea before. She swished the left-over tea leaves around the bottom of her cup and traded her cup for Tessa's.

Instinctively, Aurora began to jot down what she was seeing in the leaves, speaking aloud as she scrawled across the parchment.

"Volcano, stairs, crocodile and a balloon. You're going to find an obstacle in your path that may or may not allow your position in school – I'm ruling out a profession here because let's face it, we're still in school – and the obstacle may be a false friend. Finally the balloon, because you're going to lose your false friend, you're going to get a very busy social life after."

Tessa felt her jaw drop. "I haven't even had the chance to open my textbook and you've already planned out the next four weeks of my life. You scare me sometimes."

Aurora shrugged. "Can't help it, Tess. Just slides away with me sometimes."

"Yeah, that and your sanity," Tessa mumbled, flicking to page forty-eight of her textbook.

"Right, you're going to have a mixed future. There's a bit of a blob here that looks a bit like a comet. I'm going out on a limb here to say that something dramatic and pivotal will happen soon and there's a huge blob here that doesn't look like anything in particular so that's now a cloud, and that means-" she flicked the page in her textbook, "something gloomy and sad will happen."

"No, you idiot," Aurora chastised. "Link it up. Lie if you have to. Even if it sounds weird, you're gonna get higher marks if you link that shit up."

"Oh. Okay. Uh – The comet symbolises a dramatic and pivotal event and the cloud implies that it'll bring great sadness."

Aurora grinned. "We're getting there. Now we have to hope 'Lawners doesn't give us any homework!"

* * *

"James!" Fred called from the other end of the corridor. Fred was by far the friendliest guy in Gryffindor and was always up for a joke.

"Hey mate. Where were you at breakfast?" Louis asked from his position next to James in the line for Muggle Studies.

"I, uh, may or may not have been distracted by a certain Greengrass in a secluded corridor before she had a Divination class." Fred coughed, looking down at his shoes.

"Of course you were mate; I can't imagine anyone who wouldn't want either Greengrass or Bianchi." Louis beamed.

"Speak of the devil." Fred nodded towards the corner of the corridor, where Aurora had just appeared.

"If the devil's that hot, I wanna go to hell," Louis said as she sauntered towards them.

"Morning, boys. How are we all today?" She asked with her accent tilting words left and right.

"I'm fine," Louis said, calmer than James or Fred could ever manage. "How are you?"

"Oh, I'm great. I just predicted someone's death."

Before any more could be said, Professor Lupin stepped out into the corridor and ordered them to line up.

"The seating plan's on the board, the top is facing my desk and the bottom is the back of the class," The teacher said as the students herded in.

James glanced at the board. Teddy had found it appropriate to sit him on a table with Aurora, Louis and Rachel Wilke, right at the front of the class.

"James," Aurora said as she took the seat opposite him. How was he going to focus when he could stare at her all lesson?

"Aurora," He replied respectfully. The pair had never really had a conversation without insulting the other. Usually it was Aurora insulting him, but sometimes it alternated. James had always found it difficult to think of a good insult in the first place and she would always give him shit if he recycled one of her insults.

Teddy cleared his throat, hushing the whispering and scraping of chairs against the varnished floorboards. "Right. Because I've never sat any of you in this particular order, I'd like you all to think of an individual question to ask each other person on your table before we start today's lesson. The proper lesson will start in ten minutes."

"Right. I have your questions, I don't know about how you guys are," Louis grinned from his seat next to Aurora.

"I'm almost done. Ask me yours and I'll ask you mine," Aurora countered, tapping the desk with her knuckles.

"Okay. Aurora, serious question: are you a virgin?"

Aurora laughed. "No! Wasn't that common knowledge? Okay, mine now: dumbest thing you've ever done?"

"Technically that's two questions, but I guess the dumbest thing I've ever done was propose to Trelawney when I was far too drunk to think. We had to go back to our common rooms and sleep it off and Trelawney was walking past and Jimmy here dared me." Louis directed the attention towards James.

Aurora cocked a dark eyebrow. "Interesting. Anyone else got their questions done?" She asked the other two on the table.

"Uh. I've done mine," Rachel said timidly. "Is your mum a Seer?"

Aurora sighed. "It always comes back to that, doesn't it? Yeah, she is."

James sensed Rachel's sudden unease. It was her turn to be questioned. Aurora and Louis shared a quick, sideways glance and turned to Rachel with perfect synchronisation.

"Me first: what do you think of this boring old fart?" Aurora gestured to Teddy as he walked around the class.

"He's alright, I guess." The Hufflepuff shrugged and turned her attention to Louis, but not before her cheeks flushed a healthy shade of pink. James understood: sometimes Louis over-worked the Veela charm and even he would find himself blushing under his own cousin's stare.

"Have you ever been to a party?" Louis asked, tapping his fingers along the desk.

"Uh, no. What's it like?"

"It's great. You should come sometime, I'm sure you'd love it."

Rachel blushed and ducked her head.

"Now, Jimmy. Your turn. What are you going to ask us now?" Louis grinned, one cheek pulling his smile further to the left. Aurora smirked.

James chewed his lip. "Do you always put the Veela charm on when you're talking to a girl?"

"Usually. Sometimes it's unintentional. I just can't help myself." He winked. "Aurora or Rachel next?"

"Rachel. Do you want to come to the next Room of Requirement party?"

Rachel smiled, finally settling in. "Sure. It sounds interesting." She faltered on the last word, just as Aurora settled her stare on James.

"Don't forget we have to ask you things too," Aurora said, almost menacingly.

"I'm not. It's your turn now."

"You haven't asked me anything."

"Haven't I?"

"No, you haven't. You tosspot."

"Tosspot? Your insults have gone downhill, Bianchi."

"Was that your question, Tosspotter? And I'm just warming up. Give me a break."

"That's more like it. And no, it wasn't. I wanted to ask you about your eyes."

"You're more like a girl than Tessa is, Potty, and that's saying something. Can we take bets on how many bows are going to be in your hair tomorrow?"

"Can I just ask you the question?"

"Well you've had some opportunities. You're the one being slow," Aurora argued.

"Can you two cut it with the sexual tension and ask your bloody questions now?" Louis interjected. "We haven't got much time to go through Jimmy's questions."

"Are your eyes naturally like that?" James asked, glad the five years of curiosity were out there.

"It's a special day for you, Potter, I'm cutting the sarcasm. Yes, they are naturally different colours. My mother has it and I have it."

"They're seriously naturally different colours?" Louis asked disbelievingly.

"Haven't you had your question?" Aurora said, violently closing the topic. "Rachel. Ask James your question before I spill both of these boy's guts across the table."

"Oh. Uh. James, do you fancy anyone?" Rachel asked, not thinking of her question beforehand.

"Uh, I guess I do?"

"I know everything about you, mate. But did you sleep with Greengrass last term?"

"No. She flirted with me and that was it."

"Ah. Aurora, your go." Louis said, nudging her shoulder with his.

"Oh. Right. James, I want you to answer honestly here, I know it must be hard, but: are you in denial because you're ginger?"

"I am not ginger! I have auburn hair! I am not ginger!" James objected.

"So that's a yes." Aurora grinned as Louis laughed. "You _are_ in denial!"

"I am not in denial!"

"But you're denying it. That's a pretty simple symptom of denial."

"Oh!" James slammed his hands down on the desk in annoyance. "I give up."

"Well, we're almost over the denial stage. What's next?" Aurora grinned.

"Well I think the class is going to start now." Louis said as he nudged Aurora again and nodded towards the board.

"Whatever," She replied, flicking James' pencil case off the table.

* * *

A/N: Hope you enjoyed. Reviews are appreciated!  
Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter universe. My OC's and the plot are the only things I can take any form of credit for.


	4. starlight

starlight

"Aurora?" A small voice asked as Aurora settled by the crackling green fire in the Slytherin common room. She turned to see Lily, clutching a piece of paper and her Divination textbook a few paces away.

"Hi Lily. What's up?"

"I'm alright. I was wondering if you could help me with my Divination work."

"Sure. Sure. Come and sit here and I'll help." Aurora patted the empty seat next to her. Lily sat down timidly and splayed her homework out over the low table.

"Right. So Trelawney blabbered on about reading palms and I've read my own and I have to read someone else's. Can I borrow your hand for a bit?"

"Oh, sure. Just ask me what you need to and I'll answer for you. Don't forget to take notes."

"Okay. Are you right or left handed?"

Aurora stuck her left hand out in response. Lily took it and flexed it a little, jotting down notes as she went. She opened out Aurora's hand and chewed her bottom lip before measuring up the length of her fingers. She flipped Aurora's hand over and began to analyse the lines.

"Two life lines, one reaching up towards the forefinger." Lily chewed on the end of her pencil. "The head line has a fork and the heart line doesn't go past the middle finger. The sun line is frequently broken with a star marking at the top and the fate line is practically non-existent, along with the lack of any Solomon rings or Venus girdles. Two markings on the side of the hand – oh, two relationship lines. Done."

Lily folded up Aurora's hand and tucked her sheets away. "When are we going for dinner?"

Aurora checked the time on the grandfather clock by the entrance. "In about five minutes. I just have to go down to my dorm."

"I have to go down to mine to put this away," Lily waved her Divination book up in the air. "I'll walk with you."

The pair stood and walked over to the dormitory stairs.

"Aurora! Hold up!" A voice called out from the other side of the common room. Aurora turned, recognising the approaching voice.

"Oh, hi," She smiled, embracing Charlie. "Where've you just come from?"

"Oh, Sluggy wanted a chat about potential careers. He said that one of his friends was inside the Potions department of the Ministry and that the Deputy-Head was considering leaving soon and that I should apply."

"I don't doubt you honey, but I think Slughorn's getting ahead of himself. Someone more experienced might apply before you. Don't forget that."

"Yeah, but it'd be a great job. Slughorn said that he could be my reference. Apparently the head of the department was one of his old students too."

"Sure. Whatever. Just promise me you'll try to think about it closer to when you've done your NEWTS, alright?"

Charlie rolled his eyes a fraction. "Fine, I won't let it bother me. Happy?"

"Yes. Have you had dinner yet?"

"No. Have you?"

"No, I was just about to. D'you wanna join us then?"

Charlie glanced at Lily, who flushed and turned away. "Uh, sure. That sounds great. I'm guessing you two are just going down to your dorms?"

"Yeah. Wait here and we'll be right up," Aurora replied. She pecked Charlie on the lips and headed down to her dorm.

"I wish I shared a dorm with you, 'Rora," Lily admitted.

"Oh honey, you don't. India snores like a bear's swallowed a bee's nest." Aurora laughed. "Still, we should go back upstairs. Can't leave someone waiting now, can we?" She smiled and began to climb back up the stairs.

* * *

James hadn't intended to walk into his sister, her best friend and her best friend's boyfriend, but he had and when Aurora's legs fell into synch with his, he realised he was doomed.

"Hi Jam Pot. Did we get Muggle Studies homework?" She asked.

"That's a new insult," James replied, dumbfounded.

"Yeah. I thought of it myself, but that's not the point. We didn't get Muggle Studies homework, did we?"

"We did not get any homework from Muggle Studies, alright?" He snapped.

"Calm your boobs, jeez. Just asking." Aurora moved away and caught up with Charlie and Lily.

"Hey!" James called after her, catching the attention of the trio.

"What?" Aurora spat. "What the hell do you want now?"

"Uh – nothing." He faltered. James didn't want this to be happening here and now, especially with the other two present.

"If it was nothing, you idiot, then it wouldn't be worth getting my attention," She crossed the room, her voice dropping as she waltzed up to him. "And don't even bother telling your friends about this little 'encounter' because trust me, I can turn any teacher I want to against you and do I need to remind you who I'm extremely close with?"

Despite the tension between the two, James let out a nervous titter. "No. I think Charlie makes himself present all the time. And I bet you couldn't turn Teddy against me."

Aurora offered James an astute smile and whispered into his ear. "You'd be surprised. I have my ways." She winked before returning to the two impatient Slytherins.

James walked down to the Gryffindor table, as far out of sight as he could manage and ended up sitting with a herd of first years. He didn't hear the person approaching him until it was too late. There was a swift snip and his tie loosened around his neck. Before he could consider taking any action, his tie was snatched off of his neck and a tiny blur disappeared into the corridor. He hadn't even had the chance to see who it was. He felt the absence of his tie almost immediately, the comfortable weight of it around his neck had gone as quickly as the blur had vanished.

Deciding against taking action and admitting that his tie had been stolen by a kid, James served himself dinner. He hadn't realised he had been staring in Aurora's direction before it was too late. She caught his glance and smirked. A tiny figure appeared next to her and presented her with a Gryffindor tie, snipped in half at the back. She smiled at the young Slytherin as she checked the name tag. Her beam only grew when she read it. Aurora flicked her eyes across the hall to check on James and grinned like the Cheshire Cat.

She said something indistinguishable from James' location and set the tie on the table. She turned to Charlie and pointed in James' direction. James sighed. He was never getting that tie back, but he could wait for his Astrology lesson.

* * *

"Just don't play darts with it without me, alright?" Aurora said before kissing Charlie goodbye and pushing James' tie into his fist.

"Alright. Am I staying up?"

"Maybe. If I want anything, I'll wake you up."

"It better be with good reasoning."

"Don't worry sweetie, it will be," Aurora said, smiling up to Charlie and kissing him again. "Now I've got to head to Astronomy. We've got a new teacher and I have no idea if she wants us to do theory or head straight into a practical."

"Okay. Bye for now babe."

Charlie left and headed for the dungeons as Aurora left for classroom 7F.

* * *

James realised he was cursed when he rounded the corner towards the Astronomy classroom. As if Muggle Studies wasn't bad enough. Aurora was leaning up against the wall, covering the room number and name.

"Evening. Is this seven F?" James asked as coolly as he could.

"It might be. What's it to you?"

"My astronomy class is held here."

"I had no idea you were interested in astronomy, James. I guess we're finding out a lot about the other today."

James squished his desire to disagree with her and patiently took a leaning position on the opposite wall.

"Does you usually render your belt's abilities redundant, Wotsit?" Aurora gestured to his trousers with a flick of her wrist, but not before several minutes of uncomfortable silence.

"I had no idea you would look down there," James replied, winking dramatically.

"Well I wouldn't have to if your arse wasn't hanging out. Do you purposefully wear neon underwear or is it on a cycle?"

"Do you always have to belittle me?" James snapped.

Aurora frowned. "I had no idea that your vocabulary spread that far James-olas, but yes. Wasn't that obvious? I exist for the sole purposes of irritating you. If you have a problem, please pack your bag with crystal balls and take a swim in the Great Lake, thanks."

James grinned. Sure, she had insulted him with that compliment, but it was a compliment. He had spent his whole summer reading after what she had done in fifth year. Reading anything he could without his family getting too suspicious – although the primary worry was Freddie and Lou. They had constantly begged him to go out with them all throughout the summer and James hadn't wanted to.

"It must be a pretty boring existence if your main reason on this planet is to annoy me," James said, trying to get a smile out of her.

"It was a joke you idiot. I exist because my parents decided they wanted to contribute another magical child to the wizarding world."

"I-I know," James faltered, feeling uncomfortable.

"Good. Have you finished with your persistent questioning or do I have to hurt you this time?"

"I didn't think that Slytherins would stoop as low as violence," James remarked without thinking.

"No, we tend to leave that to you idiotic Gryffindors, who can't talk themselves out of detention for the life of them."

James looked over at her to see her glaring at him.

"If you want to dig yourself deeper into your own grave," she said, cutting him off. "You may speak. If you want to shut up and process what you're doing wrong, now is about the time."

The door to the classroom swung open and a young-looking teacher stepped out with all the flair in the world. "Weelllco—is everyone late or is this my class?"

Aurora sighed, not looking amused. "Well that was anticlimactic. Maybe you should check your register?"

The teacher turned to her, beaming emphatically. "I'm liking you already!"

"I can reassure you that the feeling isn't mutual. Are we standing out here for the next twenty minutes or are we doing an astronomy lesson?"

"Ah, yes, I have the theory all planned."

"Great. I'm assuming there's a seating plan?"

While the teacher and Aurora conversed, James surveyed the teacher. He seemed to reply to Aurora's sharp-tongue with a collected aura of serenity and equally-measured wit. He was tall, perhaps six-five, and had to be in his twenties, at the lowest. He had roughly three days' worth of dark unshaven stubble covering a good amount of his face and neck and wore a Muggle shirt, tie and black suit trousers.

Before James had finished sizing up his new teacher, Aurora and the professor had walked into 7F. He followed quickly, not wanting to be left out in the corridor on his own. When James eventually did enter, the teacher had a piece of parchment in hand and was trying to find Aurora's name.

"Just give the sheet to me," Aurora said to the teacher.

"I'll find your seat when everyone else has been seated. Please stand over there." The teacher gestured to the back of the class.

Aurora rolled her eyes and walked down the aisle between the rows of desks and stopped at the back row. She pulled out the chair from under the desk and sat down. She tucked her hands behind her head and kicked her feet up on the table.

"Problem?" She asked as she raised a dark eyebrow towards the teachers desk.

"No. Whoever James is might have a problem," he retorted. He stuck his tongue out at her.

"You're quite playful for a teacher. Wait two months and this place will suck the life out of you," Aurora countered. She tucked her feet back under the desk and tapped the wooden surface with her fingers.

"Oh, I can't wait. Who are you?" The teacher asked James as he crossed the threshold.

"I'm James. I don't mind that she's taken my seat. Who are you?"

"Professor Swan. You can take this desk up the front until Marina arrives."

"Actually Swannie-Boy, I'm probably the Marina you've got down on your obviously sub-par seating plan but if you call me that then I'll reduce you to tears," Aurora called out from the back of the class as she hung her head back, elongating her neck so she could see behind her. Her hair hung low and grazed the wooden floorboards as she moved.

"Well that's pleasant. Am I to be cursed with nicknames for the next two months?"

"Well yes. Until you tell me your real name and your age, yes. The fact that you'd look like an eight year old without that failed attempt at a beard," Aurora waved a suggestive hand at Professor Swan's face. "Gives you your current nickname. It'll probably fluctuate throughout the next year, providing you have the mental capacity to stay sane for more than two months. Especially since you get to see me every other day!"

"Let me guess, you're a package deal with someone? Only travel in packs?"

"I'm starting to like you now, but that's hardly relevant to this. I like solitary confinement, thank you very much. I'm the worst candidate for group work. I also don't do classwork or my homework. If you're acquainted with Ted, I'm sure you're aware of that."

"If you weren't a student and I met you in a bar and you spoke to me like that, I would've probably already bought you drinks. Although the fact you don't do work doesn't seem to align with your OWL results in a few subjects. O with honours for your Divination. You scraped an O for your Astrology and pulled an E in Muggle Studies and Herbology. You got an A or lower for the rest. Mostly on the T end of the scale. Is there anything else you'd like to admit to me before I let the rest of the morons in?"

Aurora straightened up. "Yes. Two things: One, James here is in denial because he's actually ginger, not auburn. Don't let him convince you otherwise. Two, what's your name?"

"That, Aurora, is for me to know, and for you to not."

"That didn't make sense."

"It did! Don't argue with me or I'll put you in detention."

"But then you'd get an extra four hours with me a day! I'm pretty sure you'd need to consult a doctor before over-exposing your poor little self to too much me before you try that."

"Are you usually like this?"

Aurora considered it. "I suppose so, yes. I believe it's a combination of narcissism and a mild superiority complex. You'll learn to love it, I can tell."

"Oh, I bet I will," Professor Swan murmured as he opened the classroom door, letting the rest of the class in. "I bet I will."

* * *

One-and-a-quarter hours and several name suggestions later, the Astrology class finished and all of the class, barring Aurora, filed out to return to their common rooms.

"So, which of my suggestions was correct, Beaky?" Aurora asked.

"None. You should go back to the Slytherin common room, Aurora."

"Aren't you ever going to tell me?"

"I'm considering it. Maybe I'll preserve it for future classes."

"And to think I told you everything." Aurora tsked. "I was right, I really should re-evaluate."

"I hate to change the subject, but do you have any idea where I can find Charlie Whitlock? I've needed to chat to him about his coursework from last year."

"We had Googly-Eyes last year," Aurora thought out loud. "I mean, yeah. He's my, uh, on-and-off boyfriend I guess. He's in Slytherin too."

"Great. Can I walk down to your common room with you so I can have a chat with him?"

"Sure, sure. I doubt he's gone to bed already. I'll just grab my bag and my jar of insults and we'll go."

Professor Swan thought Aurora was joking about her 'jar of insults', so when she returned with the strap of her tan shoulder bag dragging her left shoulder down and a jam-jar filled with scraps of paper clutched in her right hand, he was nothing short of surprised.

"Wow. How long have you had that?" He said as the pair walked along the seventh-floor corridor.

"For about fifty-five minutes. Your class really inspired me to just make as many as I could."

"We played icebreaker games for fifty minutes and I reviewed the OWL results with the class and gave you all your target grades. Not particularly inspiring, but your choice."

"Well learning everyone's name does have great side effects, but I think I'll save them for a later date."

"I look forward to it," Professor Swan tucked his hands into his pockets as the staircase moved them across the floor. "Why didn't they make this place more accessible? It always confused me that we had to take two separate staircases just to get down to the sixth floor."

"Didn't you study here?" Aurora asked as she tucked her jar into an air pocket in her bag.

"No. I graduated from Durmstrang three years ago."

"So you're twenty-one?" Aurora took his sigh to mean 'Oh great, you guessed my age'. Many teachers had sighed that very same sigh before. "Seems stupid to waste your time here when you could be doing other things."

"Like what, Aurora?"

"I don't know. Just not putting yourself back in the education system."

"I happen to like the education system, thank you very much."

"I don't see why. It's stressful. You have to wake up at a set time, behave, dress in uniform, actually work," Aurora counted them off on her fingers. "Did I mention you have to live with a group of incorrigible idiots? I don't think I did."

"Well you do work in Divination, apparently."

"Ugh. No, I don't. My mum passed the 'Inner Eye' stuff down to me. I'm just good at it, is all."

"Ah. Where'd the O in Astrology come from?"

"Primarily, Charlie. Lily helped." Aurora finished her sentence with enough authority to shut the teacher up. It was something she had learnt from demanding first years to do her bidding, watching Charlie and giving the Gryffindors as much grief as possible. They walked in silence for another six floors and when they approached the dead-end corridor in the dungeons, Aurora spoke again.

"So, what is your name?"

"Do I have to tell you?"

"Yes. You know mine."

"I do. Did you know your name means 'dawn'?"

"Don't divert the topic or I'll set my first years on you."

"Wow. That sounds – terrifying!" He shook in pretend fear.

"Don't. I'm pretty sure they'd cage fight if I asked them to."

"You could have a secret Fight Club in the corridors!"

Aurora laughed. She had read this book over the holidays after Tessa had leant her a copy. "Remember rule one of Fight Club. Now, tell me your name."

"If I tell you, will you stop asking?"

"I won't have to ask, you nitwit."

"Fine. Nathaniel."

Aurora giggled. "Okay. Sure. Peasant."

"What?" He asked as the wall in front of them whirred and clicked.

"It's the password-" Aurora said, pointing to the green velvet curtain. "Get your last-century ass in before it closes."

* * *

Several bad-name jokes and twenty minutes later, Professor Swan left the Slytherin common room to go and sort out his classroom. He had been aware of how much parchment Aurora had used by perfecting her parchment aeroplane, he just hadn't seen the extent of the prototypes across the floor until they had left.

"What did Nate want?" Aurora asked Charlie when Professor Swan left.

"He said that he was considering sending my coursework off to a magazine for astronomers for potential publication. He said some other stuff too, but I phased out. When are we going to bed?"

"I don't know, I haven't got any homework yet. I'm shattered though. I might have a shower and go to bed."

"Alright, sweetie. Just don't trip and crack your skull open, because last time that happened it was a right pain to get down there to help poor India."

* * *

A/N: Hope you enjoyed. Reviews are appreciated!  
Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter universe. My OC's and the plot are the only things I can take any form of credit for.


	5. deal

deal

warnings: (not-so-) subtle mentions to sex & drugs.

Two mornings later, Charlie, Aurora, Tessa and a rather grudging Lysander, gathered the first years into the common room.

"Right. You know we've gathered you all here for a reason. Task two. The ten of you that are in the clear are listed over here. The special award goes to Anna Fitzgerald for catching Potters tie. We would've preferred it in one piece, but the darts match tonight will have an extra pizzazz about it."

Anna nervously glanced at the floor as Aurora and Charlie laughed. She smiled shyly and glanced back up.

"Right. This task requires your bargaining, planning and sneaking skills. The first three to go into Hogsmeade and bring back proof, such as sweets from Honeydukes or a Butterbeer will be welcomed into Slytherin. If you get caught, we're not helping. You must learn to lie through a situation otherwise you're screwed. The task is effective immediately. Plan away. Go when you want," Aurora finished, shooing the pyjama-clad flock of kids back to their dorms to get dressed.

"Do you think we were a little rude, you know, waking them at quarter-to-five?" Tessa asked as Charlie and Lysander pushed the common room back into order and Aurora copied down names that had completed the first task.

"No," Aurora replied disinterestedly, brushing Lindsey Woods' name off of one list and rewriting it under the other.

"When are we going for breakfast?" Lysander asked.

"Well, I don't know about you, but Charlie and I have a good six weeks' worth of catching up to do," Aurora said, smiling at the Head Boy.

Charlie smiled back. "We do. We'll be back up in an hour or two."

Tessa wrinkled up her nose in disgust. "Ugh, go away! We don't want to hear about your sex lives!" She exclaimed, hurling a satin-covered cushion in their direction.

"Well she seemed interested enough last summer. What's gotten into her?" Charlie uttered into Aurora's ear.

"Oh, who, Tess? She just lost her virginity over the summer. Banged some Italian guy. I don't remember his name, but his girlfriend was visiting Mother and we got tasked with looking after him. I'm not sure Tessa was aware of even how you do it but whatever. Lysander and I were giggling over it for a good few hours."

"Oh. That explains it then."

"Explains what?" Aurora asked as they both ducked into the Head Boy's bedroom.

"Oh, nothing." Charlie didn't really feel like explaining how Tessa had flirted with him the previous evening before dinner. It made him uncomfortable just to think about it, let alone explain it.

"Alright. Just do me one thing, will you?" Aurora said, her tone rising to a tease.

"What's that?" Charlie replied, not even bothering to hide the smile in his words as he pushed Aurora onto the bed.

"Fuck me."

* * *

Aurora's day hadn't been very interesting since her early-morning frolics with Charlie in his room. She always had that problem with morning sex – it increased her expectations for the rest of the day and Charlie wasn't going to be free until after dinnertime and she had never liked sleeping with someone straight after dinner.

Muggle Studies had started off, as usual, with a couple of glares and snarky remarks.

"Morning sunshines!" Aurora said to Louis and Rachel as she skipped into the classroom.

"Well well, did someone get some last night?" Louis asked cheekily as Aurora sat down next to him.

"Although it's none of your information, this morning," Aurora replied, "How are we all?"

The chorus of 'fines' were enough to reassure Aurora that her day had started off much better than the others.

"Oh, good morning Poppy. I almost didn't see you there!" Aurora said, over-exaggerating as James walked in.

"Poppy?" He asked as he sat down opposite her.

"It was a subtle reference to the flaming crimson of your hair, in case you failed to register that. If I have to explain each and every one of my nicknames to you I might cry. Or I might be forced to make another comment on how Hufflepuffs are smarter than you."

"Whatever," James replied sulkily.

"Calm down Ginger Snap! I'm just warming up for the lesson."

James rolled his eyes but cut back the retort that bit the tip of his tongue. Instead, he turned to Rachel and addressed her in the most courteous manner he could muster. "So, are you coming to the party in the Room of Requirement tonight?"

Aurora's face flickered through a frown and then a devious smile. She just had to find Molly.

"Oh, yeah, totally – uh – of course," Rachel stammered through her words and blushed. "What time was it again? Is it alright if I bring a friend or two?"

"It starts at half nine, ends at about one. Bring as many friends as you like! I'm sure we can provide for them!"

"Yeah, we've got some kids from Ravenclaw coming as well. Yasmine's bringing a couple of friends. I hope you don't mind."

"Nah, she's alright. She's not dragging Tiffany along, is she? I can't stand Tiffany."

Aurora lost interest as the two boys began to debate over the redeeming qualities of girls from each house. She caught various snippets of the conversation, and was paying full attention as soon as Slytherin was mentioned.

"No, you've got it all wrong! A Hufflepuff is totally loyal – I don't see many Hufflepuffs cheating on each other, do you?"

"Key words James: 'each other.' They rarely date outside of their houses because we're always intolerable douches to them. Ravenclaws too."

"What about Slytherins? We never date any of them. Why not?"

"Because they're too smart. You never know when a Slytherin's working for or against you."

Aurora rolled her eyes. "Can you two old ladies stop your gossiping? I need one of you to pay attention so I can quiz you if we get homework later. I'm also going to need one of you to do it for me if you don't mind."

* * *

"What've you got now?" Lysander asked as he and Aurora left the Library. One kid had already handed Aurora a butterbeer, several Sugar Quills and a small tube of Puking Pastilles before they had entered.

"They said that because I'd come to the effort of escaping the school grounds during lesson time, they'd give me a present." The small kid had said as he gave them the bag, improvised out of a scarf.

"Well, it wasn't a teacher. I guess," Aurora had replied, "Piss off to your next lesson and pretend that nothing happened."

The boy nodded and scuttled off into the impending mob of fourth years that were walking up from the dungeons.

"Well, we do have some ambitious kids, don't we?"

"Yeah, we do. I've got Herbology, what about you?"

"Oh, I've got Arithmancy."

"What are you going to do with Arithmancy, Xand?" Aurora asked, her tone raising to tease.

"I don't know. I don't want to be like my Dad so I picked as academically as I could."

"Alright. Have fun."

"You too. I heard Potter's in your class."

"Oh for fucks sake! And I thought he wouldn't take any of these topics! I'm only saved from him in Divination and even then Tessa has the nerve to bring the bastard up!"

Lysander laughed his deep, rumbly laugh that always reminded Aurora of a snoring dragon. "Have fun, regardless. Smack him with your textbook when he's not looking."

"No – I'm just verbally bullying him at the moment. He's being a dick and giving me the eyes all the time."

"I hope he's not literally giving you eyes – like ripping them out and – hey! What was that for?" Lysander asked as Aurora shoved him into the stone wall.

"For your idiotic suggestions! Now stop behaving like a moron and just pity me, alright?"

"Fine, I feel bad for you. Happy now?"

"A bit better. I think you need to work on it but we'll get there. He's giving me the stupid 'lovesick puppy' eyes every time we make eye contact."

"Well, I can see why. You aren't half bad to star – OW!" Lysander yelped as Aurora shoved him again.

"Have fun in Arithmancy, you bag of twats," Aurora said, smirking as she walked off.

* * *

Three plants and half of a Herbology textbook later, Aurora and her partner succeeded in getting the plant to drop its pods. The rest of the class had disembowelled them but Aurora was happy with her days work. She hadn't felt like doing much as she'd had to discreetly chat to Molly without Professor Longbottom hearing or any other nosy class members.

"Hey, Molly, did you have a good holiday?" Aurora asked as she ducked into the deeper tresses of the greenhouse.

"Oh yeah, it was great. How was yours?"

"Oh, it was fine. A bit hot, as usual, but it was quite peaceful in the late evening. Did you finally get any of that fancy maple syrup you were raving about last summer?"

"Yeah, I totally did. Dad almost found it but man that stuff should be illegal! I got such a sugar rush last time I had any with my sausages."

"Ah, that was what I was worried about. Have you tried diluting it or something?"

"I did separate a little to try that with but I had such a hard time cleaning the kitchen after. Went everywhere."

"Ah. You'll just have to use it in small portions, won't you?"

"Yeah. It's great though. Melts off in your mouth and gives you the best sugar rush. Do you want some?"

"Not yet. I think I'll put it off for another day."

Aurora turned and looked around to check that the coast was clear.

"The Gryff's are having a party. Room of Requirement, 9:30. Split me a portion, I'll split the money 50/50. Deal?"

Molly considered it. "Deal. You really should meet him –" She cut off her sentence as Professor Longbottom walked in.

"Hi girls. Are you two alright? Who's 'him', Molly?"

"He's my penpal. His name's Marcel. He goes to Beauxbatons."

"Are you two alright then? You both looked a bit uncomfortable."

"Oh, we're fine. Aurora just didn't feel too great in there. You know what she's like in odd temperatures."

Longbottom turned his gaze to Aurora. "Yes. Of course. Don't forget about your partners, you two. Can't have them doing all the work!"

"Of course not, Prof! Just needed a little air. That's all!" Aurora replied calmly, despite her insides screaming for oxygen. "Meet me in the common room at 8:45. Don't be late. Don't tell anyone. I'll tell the girls who to target. Deal?" Aurora's voice hardened.

"Gotcha. It's a deal. Is India getting involved?"

"No. Not after last time. That was a disaster within itself. I'll let Paige and Emily take over. They both know what they're doing."

"Fine. Both are persuasive, I'm sure they'll get an insane amount of profits if they pick the right outfits and the right people to sell it off to."

"Molly! Now is really not the time for your lesbian tendencies! Get your head back on. Hit on them later."

"Whatever. And I'm bi. Dumbass."

"Don't call me a dumbass or I'll give you 25% of it and I'll keep 75%."

"Fine. Common room, 8:45 on the dot. If you're late –" Molly ran a finger over her neck.

"I'm the one that's on time. Don't tell me what to do!"

Molly sighed. "Whatever. Go tell the girls to consider things for tonight. I want a good profit."

"Don't forget I'm selling too."

"I'll quiz you on what you're selling later. 8:45. Terms will be sorted then."

"Fine." Aurora rolled her eyes. "See you at 8:45."

* * *

After Aurora had convinced Paige and Emily to dress up, the three gathered in the common room and shooed the kids out.

Molly met them five minutes later, at precisely 8:45.

"Fine. I'll make you a deal: Paige, Emily. Hundred each. Split the money half and half with me at the end. 10% to Aurora, you keep 40%. Aurora: you get two hundred. Optimum price is around one galleon and ten sickles. Anything under 15 Sickles isn't to be accepted, unless you know they'll come back for more. If you don't sell it all, then I take all the money. Deal?"

Aurora turned to Paige and Emily, who both nodded their assent.

"Also, if you recognise a younger one that's sneaked in: kick their ass out. I had a chat with Louis and he told me it's fifth year and above. Rose and Lyra weren't invited and Albus might make it. Don't sell to Albie, for gods sake. The kid's already nervous enough. Anyone who isn't drunk enough might not be good candidates. Still. Deal?"

"Deal," Aurora replied firmly. "You giving it to us now or later?"

"I'll get it out of the way. I counted them all earlier." She pulled out three medium plastic zip-lock bags from her pocket and handed the two with a red line on to Emily and Paige. Then she handed the one with a purple line on to Aurora. "Take care of them."

Emily sighed and folded the bag up and pushed it into the cup of her bra as the others spoke.

"Who's blacklisted?" Paige asked Molly. Molly was a year older than the trio and had been notorious for organising such events throughout her fifth, sixth and now her seventh year.

"Albie, Lyra – if she makes her way in and Rose."

"Gotcha." Paige nodded as Emily crossed the room to them. "We know what to do. You deal with yours and we'll sort out ours."

* * *

Had the Gryffindor boys decided to have the party in any other room, the music would've spoiled them. Thanking the genius that made and re-made the room, the boys set up several large speakers in each corner and a variety of lights had been suspended in the ceiling. The room really was magical.

"You guys ready for tonight?" Fred asked as they set up a table for food and drink on the east side of the room.

"Of course. Took all summer to plan this!" Louis replied.

"No it didn't, Lou! We planned this for three days, remember?" Fred said out of nowhere.

"Oh. Yeah. Of course we did." Louis rolled his eyes. The other two didn't like to admit that they put effort into their parties, especially since people like Aurora could prepare for one in five minutes.

"Whatever, just make sure no-one gets up into the booth again, alright?" James called out as he connected the cacophony of wires and plugs up.

"Sure. Who's on music?" Fred hollered from the other side of the room.

"I think Lorcan's on tonight. I promised him a probationary place."

"Eh. Fine. If he starts to play anything shitty, then he's out. I'll take over."

"Do what you want, but at least give him a chance, Freddie! Not everyone shares the same opinion with you on music. Lorcan's more eclectic."

"Eclectic? What the hell does that mean?"

"Varied. Now I'm gonna get my ass back to the dorm and pick up the Muggle stuff I got over the summer. Make sure there's some form of spell making sure no-one under 15 can pick up any alcohol, I don't want to get Uncle Charlie involved again."

Fred and Louis flinched. "Alright," Freddie said, "Go fetch it. We'll manage."

"Great. I'll be back in twenty," James called over his shoulder as he walked over to the door.

"I've got some extra stashed under the floorboard under my bed if you need it," Louis bellowed out in return. James threw them a thumbs-up as he left.

* * *

"Evening, James," A voice whispered from a darkened alcove in the seventh-floor corridor.

"E-Evening?" He asked, looking around cautiously. "Who is this?"

Aurora stepped out into the lamp light. "Just me. I was wondering how many people you were having at your party."

"About a hundred, maybe more? I'm not really sure. Why?"

"You're going to have fun getting them back to their common rooms," She mused.

James frowned. A good four weeks' worth of planning had been trashed with one quick statement. "Can I help you?" He snapped irritably.

"I was just wondering if you were going to leave anyone from any other houses sober for tomorrow. Clear out of the Room of Requirement by ten tomorrow morning, I've got to store some stuff up there."

"Alright. When's the Slytherin house party?"

"It's Slytherin exclusive, you cretin. Why would I tell you?"

"Just wondering if any of our dates clash."

"It's not till November, not that it's any of your business."

"Alright. Start or beginning?"

"Start. Fallout from Halloween."

"Okay. No Halloween party for the Gryffs."

"You can have one, but don't use the Room of Requirement."

"That's the only decent place to have a party these days. Neville's constantly patrolling the Gryffindor common room at the weekends."

Aurora laughed. "Unlucky! Slughorn probably can't get out of his office, so we're saved. What's in the bag?"

"Muggle stuff," James said without thinking, "Vodka, beer, wine and stuff. Nothing really potent."

"I heard that one brand of vodka's pretty intoxicating. I can't remember it, but Tessa's hangover lasted for a good thirty-six hours after."

James laughed. Tessa had always appeared so calm and collected every single time they had ever had the misfortune of communicating and that made it hard to imagine her drunk. He hadn't even realised that they had been stood outside of the Room of Requirement for a good five minutes before then. He had been too enraptured by Aurora's frequent, often unneeded hand gestures and the way she smiled when she recalled drunken Tessa from her mind.

"Right. I should be heading back. I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?"

"Yeah. See you." James opened the door by walking into it and pushing it with his shoulder as Aurora disappeared down the same route that she had arrived.

* * *

An hour later, the music was blaring, the drinks had been charmed so no fourteen year old or under could touch them without something bad happening, and the lights cast erratic patterns across the ceiling with randomised colours.

James felt satisfied that he had successfully arranged this. Sure, Freddie and Lou had helped. Only a little really. He was so sure that his party was going seamlessly that he failed to count how many people were coming in the room. The room had subtlety adapted to count for the masses of people cramming in. Word had apparently got around and the drinks were disappearing, fast. Because he was so pleased with the party's progress, he also failed to notice Aurora, Paige and Emily walking in.

"God, these lights are shit. They're enough to give someone epilepsy." Paige laughed. "Are we splitting?"

Aurora looked around the room in awe. At least half the school had got in. She giggled. "Yeah. I'll work from the middle out. Emily, go from front left to front right. Paige, work the back left to the back right. Meet back in an hour."

Paige and Emily nodded and split off in their given directions while Aurora wormed her way into what she considered to be the approximate centre of the room.

"Hey, fancy something special?" She whispered in the ear of one of James' roommates. He turned and offered her an inquisitive glance and pulled two galleons out of his pocket as Aurora brandished her zip-lock bag of tiny pills.

"Do I need a drink with it?" he asked as he waved his beer around.

Aurora shook her head in response. "Dissolve under your tongue. Enjoy." She winked as tucked the money into her bag. She moved away and parted the crowd to get to the next person she knew would pay well.

* * *

Forty-five minutes later and Paige was still frowning at Louis. He hadn't been particularly persistent about it, but he had perpetually pestered her about at least being able to touch her.

"Uh uh," Paige said as she wagged her finger in his face, "Look, don't touch. Maybe if you bought some I'd ease up."

"Any problems over here?" Emily asked as she approached.

"Louis here's being a little pretentious about this."

Emily pouted. "Why've you got to be so annoying, Lou? We just want to help you get in the party mood."

Louis tried desperately to think of a way out of his predicament. "Fine," he said eventually, "How much? – Actually, don't answer that. I'll just give you a galleon for one. Deal?"

"Deal. If you want more, you know where to come," Paige said, smirking at him as she tipped a pill out of her bag.

"I sure will girls. Make sure you leave one for me." Louis called out as they left him.

"D'you think he's really gonna take that?" Emily asked.

"Probably not. He still paid a galleon though, which is pretty generous."

"Maybe you should just imagine a dark alcove and push him into it later. I'm sure he'd appreciate it."

"Don't you have stuff to sell?"

"Nope," Emily said as she held up her now empty bag, "Sold it all. Got a good haul too."

Paige smiled. "Alright. How long have we got 'til we meet Aurora?"

"A good half hour. Want me to take some of yours and I'll give all the money to you?"

"Sure, why not. I've still got a fair amount left. It's amusing to see who's out of it and who's not."

Emily laughed. "It sure is, mate. I'm glad India's not here. God she was irritating last time. 'What are we supposed to do?' 'I can't do this!' Man, was she whiny or not!"

"Yeah, she sure was," Paige replied, giggling at the terrible impression. "Still, have fun with your half. Did the group of 'Puffs get any from you?"

"I didn't bother. They didn't look twice as I walked past. You could get away with it though. Did you wear that on purpose?"

"Of course! I'll sort them out. I'll be back here in fifteen minutes."

"Alright. See you!"

The two girls dived into the dancing mass, splitting into two different directions. Emily headed towards the back of the room, imagining a small hidey-hole she could stand in to simply deal from and Paige headed towards the newcomers, to welcome them with a friendly smile, a little bit of cleavage and something to 'get them in the party spirit'.

* * *

Paige considered it for a moment. Louis had come to stand beside her in the doorway and had already spent another five galleons. He was now offering something for her, something that she was sure every girl in the school would trade bodies for.

"Sure. Why not. You, me, here, tomorrow morning at one. If you're not here, I'll never talk to you again."

Louis nodded, smiled and walked off, ignoring Paige's subtle smirk as he retreated. He had managed to get what he wanted, at last. Whatever was in those tiny, S-stamped tablets sure as hell had impaired his ability to turn on the Veela charm and that had made it almost impossible.

"Hey, Paige!" Emily called out as she pushed Louis Weasley up and away from her.

"Heya! Did you get all done?"

"Of course I did! Who do you think I am?"

Paige laughed. "Alright mate, I don't know about you, but I'm waiting here for Aurora."

"Fine, I'll wait for you too. Did you get rid of all of it?"

"Yeah. 'Course."

* * *

"Well, that was interesting," Paige said as she kicked off her heels and fell back onto her bed.

"Definitely. What are you doing with your cut?" Emily asked as she shimmied out of her skirt.

"I don't know. Probably store it somewhere until I can set up a Gringotts account. What about you?"

"I was considering spending a fair portion in Hogsmeade at the end of the month and then I'll put the rest in the bank. Can't have Dad wondering where I got 'hundred Galleons."

Paige paused. "Come round mine in the holidays. Mum won't mind and we can go out to Diagon Alley or the Muggle shops or something."

"Alright, I'll owl Dad in the morning," Emily said as she lifted her mattress up and jinxed the pouch of money to stick to the bottom. "Hey Aurora. D'you want me to do the same for you?"

Aurora crossed the common room, her heels clicking on the stone floor. "Well, that was successful. I don't think I've ever seen as many people in the Room of Requirement before."

Paige and Emily agreed with small, muffled sounds of agreement.

"This is a secret, isn't it?" Emily asked hesitantly. "Y'know, the whole 'dealing to classmates' thing."

Aurora laughed. "Yeah. Of course. God forbid Charlie finds out!"

* * *

A/N: Hope you enjoyed. Reviews are appreciated!  
Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter universe. My OC's and the plot are the only things I can take any form of credit for.

_NEXT TIME!: (yes i am just adding this in what do we think?): __'"Why should Charlie have to know? And yes, he does. But I don't see how that's relevant," Aurora said defensively, dropping the glossy magazine onto her lap. Tessa was shit at reading between the lines, so the lie was safely tucked away for now.'_


	6. zealous

zealous

James woke up the next morning in the corner of the Room of Requirement with a pillow under his head and a blanket over his sprawled legs. He vaguely remembered the events of the previous evening: Aurora smiling her lazy, content smile but something Louis gave him had made him fuzzy for the rest of the night. He also roughly recalled Aurora laughing and calling him a lightweight, but whether that was reality or his mind, he wasn't sure.

Ignoring the drumbeat pounding in his head, James stood up. He pushed up from the wall and wished the room to be tidy. The room obeyed – which was James' favourite part. He had to go back to the dorm to have his anti-hangover potion, which did the lovely job of fighting James' impending migraine while he downed several litres of water and slept for the next eight hours.

* * *

"Morning Tessa," Aurora said from under the layers of green silk that donned her bed as Tessa tried to sneak back into her bed. She had forgotten that Aurora was an obnoxiously early riser.

"Oh. Morning 'Rora. How're you?"

"Oh, I'm absolutely fabulous. How about you?" Aurora asked as she leafed through the pages of 'Witch Weekly'.

"I'm alright. I didn't know you read that, 'Rora." Tessa gestured to the magazine.

"I don't. I'm laughing at their inability to spell 'Hogwarts'. Did you hear anything about last night's party?"

"There was a party last night?"

Aurora winced. She'd forgotten she'd left out Tessa for a reason. "Yeah. Nothing major, just a shitty Gryffindor one. I had a look with Emily and Paige, but there wasn't any reason to stay."

"Does Charlie know?"

"Why should Charlie have to know? And yes, he does. But I don't see how that's relevant," Aurora said defensively, dropping the glossy magazine onto her lap. Tessa was shit at reading between the lines, so the lie was safely tucked away for now.

"I was just wondering. He came up to the common room last night and asked where you were."

Aurora tried to figure out whether Tessa was lying. "Yeah, sure. Whatever," She said eventually with a dismissive wave of her hand. She picked up her magazine and continued to flick through the story on the Weasley family.

* * *

James sat himself down in the kitchens after his eight hour long nap. The kitchens were bustling in preparation for dinner and the mouth-watering smell of beef casserole lingered in the air. He still didn't feel like he was in top form, but at least he had been saved from having to set up the Quidditch practices. The first match hadn't even been announced yet.

James definitely hadn't expected to see Rose sat in the corner of the kitchen, chatting with a house elf as she did what looked like her History of Magic homework.

"James!" She exclaimed as he threw himself down opposite her. "I wasn't expecting to see you here. Where was everyone last night?"

"Can you please do me one favour, my darling cousin? Less chat, more thinking."

Rose rolled her eyes. "Whatever. How's the Aurora problem going on?"

James sighed. He had struggled to find someone that saw the world the same way that he thought Aurora would. His closest match had been Rose. She was amazing at seeing things for what they really were, and he was glad he was on her side half of the time. The other half of the time, he was sick to death of her.

"It's not, really. I had a chat with her yesterday. She wasn't that co-operative."

"Ah. Shall we head to dinner now? I think they upped the time dinner's served at the weekends."

James forced himself up and out of the kitchens with Rose. They chatted about homework and their housemates while they travelled up the two flights of stairs and along three corridors before they reached the hall and decided on their seats at the end of the Gryffindor table, tucked on the other side of the first years.

Thankfully for Rose, Aurora had yet to appear for dinner and getting James out of the Great Hall before she turned up was top on her list of priorities. "James, don't worry yourself with Aurora. You need to avoid the likes of her if you want to pass your NEWTS."

"Avoid the likes of me?" A too-familiar voice said behind them. Rose and James swivelled around to see Aurora. Rose ducked her head and blushed as Aurora bored holes into her skull. "What could possibly be wrong with me? Is it my behaviour? Is it the way I rebuilt Slytherin house? Is it my uniform? Is my skirt too short for your poor, demure knees?" Aurora spat, venom lacing every word.

"Aurora-" James began.

"Shut up, before I smack your pretty little skull against the table," Aurora snapped, raising a hand to forcibly shut James' jaw. "Answers. Now," She said, returning her odd-eyed glare on to

Rose bit her lip. She wanted to answer, but she was terrified of what would happen if she didn't. Or if she did.

"If you don't answer me in the next two minutes, I'll force my first years to intimidate you."

"You shouldn't use other people like that," Rose squeaked, terrified of confrontation.

"I can do whatever I like, Rosie-Posie, I accepted them into Slytherin and they still owe me a good two tasks. I'd hate to use up one on you. Now, answers, or I'll force your little brother Hugo into doing press-ups."

"Yes, I guess, Yes, and it's not regulation length."

"There's a good little girl. How about you run back to your cosy little common room and cry to your friends while I go and have my dinner?"

Rose nodded, still staring at the floor.

"Lovely. Shoo now."

James' jaw would have dropped, had Aurora not been holding it up.

"And don't even get me started on you, Jammy Dodger. Just leave me the hell alone so I can sort out my shit and you sort out yours. Understand?" Aurora snapped.

"What if my problem is you?" James asked quietly.

He could've sworn that if looks could kill, he was already being buried deep underground. "James, I'd like to put this bluntly. I don't give a tiny snake's butt about you, or any member of your family except for Lily. I'd like to leave it this way."

James laughed in response. "Except for Lily? Why do you only like Lily then?"

"I wouldn't have to keep an eye out for her had you not annexed her the second that bloody hat put her in Slytherin. You've been too busy hating the house that you've blatantly ignored the looks that half the boys give her, and I'm not just talking about the boys in her year. I had to smack Scorpius after my divination class on Thursday."

James felt himself stunned into silence. "So what? What am I supposed to do?"

Aurora rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Just don't come and blame it on me when your sister loses her virginity to some seventh year."

"When did this conversation come round to Lily?" James asked dryly.

"James, I swear to Salazar I will taunt you for the rest of your life and then in the afterlife, if you believe that there is one, if you don't leave me alone," Aurora whispered into her ear.

"No more physical threats, then?" He joked.

"No. I can get Charlie for those," She smiled. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got some dinner to eat."

* * *

"Are you kidding me?" Aurora hissed to Elliot.

Elliot shrugged. "That's what I heard. I don't know if it did happen."

"I'm going to beat the –"

"Aurora, calm down. You can't mindlessly hit someone."

"Well you're hardly the voice of reason, _Masters_," she spat, "If I had a galleon every time you'd mindlessly punched someone, I'd be a millionaire," She paused, "Oh, wait! I am! Now shut up and let me deal with him."

"Fine. Don't come crying to me when you two argue."

"I don't need to, loser. And I don't cry. You know that. Plus you're missing out on the angry sex. Best type ever."

Elliot's eyes bulged and Aurora laughed.

"Oh, I've missed teasing you, Ellie."

"Oh shut up, I've told you not to call me that!" Elliot exclaimed, giving Aurora a gentle shove.

"Is there a problem, you two?" Charlie asked sternly as he sat down.

Aurora turned to face him, her smile morphing into a glare. "I don't know why you're in such a bad mood."

"I'm not in a bad mood. I'm fine!" He objected, a little too quickly.

"Oh please. Like I don't already know," Aurora snapped.

"Aurora, it was just once. I made a mistake."

"You said that last time. You said that the time before. I don't want to bother myself with you if you're going to behave like this again."

"What, like I don't know what you've been doing when you're in 'detention'?" Charlie hissed across the table, "Please. I think we all know."

Aurora glanced up towards the teacher's table. Shit. Charlie didn't know about Teddy – did he?

"We all know you're bunking off to do other people."

"Says you," Aurora almost sighed with relief. "You've had one detention since third year. Grow up and accept the blame, you pathetic little man. I've had it with you." Aurora exclaimed, forcing herself up and out of her seat.

"Aurora, just stay!" Charlie said as he reached out to catch hold of her arm.

"Oh leave me alone," She replied sharply, throwing her drink into his face and storming out.

* * *

It had taken Elliot a good ten minutes to catch up with Aurora. She wasn't the most athletic of students, but she knew her way around Hogwarts better than most. He eventually found her hidden in an empty fourth-floor classroom.

"Well, I must admit, you've gotten better?" he said, trying and failing to hide the smile in his words.

Aurora turned to him, her eyes bright and alert. "Really?"

"Yup," Elliot nodded, "I think you really got to him this time, he looked mortified."

"Excellent." Aurora swept the tear that she had worked up off her cheek. "Maybe I should drop in that I think I'm getting tennis elbow next time."

Elliot laughed with her. "Yeah, that totally wouldn't make him explode. Have you seen Molly today?"

"Nah. I figured she'd be with you guys."

"I haven't seen her all day. I know all about your deal with her though," Aurora looked up at him. Her expression rivalled that of a rabbit in a trap. "Charlie doesn't know." She exhaled.

"She's probably putting the money in her vault, actually. I know she opened one last year under a mixture of our names," Aurora said after a while.

"Probably, actually. She'd get a fair amount of interest on that, really."

"Okay, numberfreak, don't get all technical with me. Shall we go back to the common room? I have like eight hours of sleep I've got to catch up on."

* * *

Rose could only stare at Charlie Whitlock as he approached her, the Sunday morning after Aurora had terrified her at dinner. She was just going to settle in for her homework session at the Library.

"I understand you had an altercation with Aurora last night?"

"I- uh – yeah, I did," She forced the words out, flustered by Charlie' vocabulary and handsome looks. He was miles above any of the fifth year boys.

"Fine. I don't care what happened, but you stay away from her. If I hear you say one bad thing about her again, I'll stamp all over your perfect behaviour and prefect badge."

Rose was taken aback, "But, she started it!"

"I don't care if you're going to be petty and try and fix this one on her. You do something like that again and I will have your prefect position revoked."

"Charlie!" A musical voice called out from the Library doorway. A blur of a figure hurtled towards the Head Boy and forced their arms under his.

"Come here, sweetheart," Charlie said as he lifted Aurora up so she would entwine her legs around his waist.

"What are you doing up here, baby?" Aurora asked; her voice more childish than it had been when she was working.

"I was wondering where you'd gone so early on a Sunday, and I guessed you were up here working. You're so busy these days, I hardly ever see you!"

Rose, now ignored by the embracing pair, stared with her jaw on the floor. Hadn't they broken up the night before?

"I know, I'm sorry honey, I can't help it. I've got to get this piece of work done, and Lily's useless with Herbology and Molly's pissed off to god-knows-where and you were at practice."

"Maybe you should come and study with me." Charlie smiled cheekily, his words meaning something completely different.

"Maybe I should." Aurora smiled, leaning down to kiss Charlie.

"Have I ever told you how attractive you are in that purple –" He was hastily silenced by Aurora, who pointed at Rose. "Oh. Shoo."

For once, Rose obliged. She had absolutely no desire to watch Charlie and Aurora kiss in the middle of a corridor. That was just bad manners, for a start.

* * *

Aurora smiled amicably as Charlie pushed his hand into hers. He was much better company than her Herbology homework, at least. Even if he was a lying, cheating bastard, Aurora was one too and she couldn't complain too much. He might've slept with one of her friends while she was at a party, but that was conditional for now and Aurora could find to real loophole to tug at.

"So, why are you up at the Library at eight o'clock on a Sunday morning?" Charlie asked, pulling Aurora into a small alcove on the fourth floor.

"Just wanted my Herbology work done, nothing more." She shrugged. "What's so difficult to comprehend about that?"

"Didn't you get set this homework on Friday? You've never done your homework this early before."

"So what? I just want it out of the way, Charles," Aurora said defensively.

"Fine. I'll see you at lunch, sweetheart." He leaned down and kissed Aurora on the cheek before leaving her alone in the alcove.

* * *

One hour and fifty-four minutes later and Aurora was still cursing at her homework.

"Struggling over here?" A familiar voice asked.

"Oh, hi. What brings you up here?"

"Nothing much, just looking for some books to take resources from for my first year class tomorrow. What're you doing?"

"Failing my Herbology. Try six bookcases back."

"What's it on?"

"Something about bubotubers? I'm not entirely sure."

He laughed. "Alright. I'll help, in exchange for you helping me with my first year's tomorrow morning, second session."

Aurora frowned. "One, why should I help you, two, how do you know my timetable?"

"One, I'll do your Herbology homework for you, and two, I glanced over every person's timetable that's in my class. Makes holding people in to produce homework easier."

Aurora shrugged and pushed the chair opposite her out from under the table with her foot "Take a seat, do your damage."

Nate took a seat opposite her and Aurora passed the textbook and her eighteen attempts at starting an essay over the table to him.

"You really are confused here aren't you?" Nate asked, laughing quietly. His eyes met Aurora's over the table and the bitch face was unmistakeable.

Nate coughed and turned back to Aurora's work, but not before accidentally holding his gaze with Aurora's for too long that would be considered a working relationship.

* * *

"So, that's your essay done," Nate said, after half an hour of Aurora transcribing everything he told her to. "You've got eight and a half hours until dinner time. Are you up for helping me with my first years?"

Aurora struggled to keep her smile hidden. "Alright, have you got your lesson planned yet?"

"No, not yet, I'm guessing you're going to help?"

"Fine," She said melodramatically, smiling as she spoke. "If you insist. We should sort out this mess first, though."

The pair stood up from the table and tucked their chairs in. They both reached for the same book and Nate's slender fingers brushed up against Aurora's. He shied away and snatched up his books before Aurora could move.

"I'll – I'll see you uh," Nate trailed off and promptly left, nearly scattering his books in his haste to escape.

Aurora frowned but tucked the books back on the nearest bookcases, taking no regard for their proper positions. She returned to the Slytherin common room and walked di to store her work and take a quick nap before she intended to take a trip down to the kitchens for a snack.

* * *

Three hours later and one plate of sliced mango later, Aurora knocked on the door to classroom 7F.

"Come in!" A strained voice called out from the other side of the doorway.

Aurora slipped through the doorway and shut it quietly behind her.

"Oh! Aurora, what a pleasant surprise!" Nate said, his voice betraying him.

"Of course, I'm always a great surprise. Now, what are you getting them to study?"

"Just the generic star alignments, phases of the moon, you know – the basic things. Are you sure I'm not asking too much of you?"

"It's fine, Nate. Really." Aurora pondered why a perfectly competent professor of astrology required her help with teaching a group of children the basics of astrology. It was then that the cogs of her brain began to whirl into action.

* * *

A/N: Hope you enjoyed. Reviews are appreciated!  
Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter universe. My OC's and the plot are the only things I can take any form of credit for.


	7. shine

shine

Aurora's day could've started better, in her opinion. The relentless screaming of the Muggle alarm clock roused her from her dreams. Her emerald-green bedding tangled her legs up like a dolphin in a net and she nearly fell off the edge of the bed. Eventually, she tugged her dressing gown over her pyjamas and headed down to the bathroom to shower.

In all her exhaustion, Aurora could hardly be bothered to lift her feet properly and maintain a correct posture, which made her shoulders burn and ache to be set back in their usual position. She also forgot to bring down her toiletries from her dorm room, so settled for using Emily's and Paige's. She was fairly certain that the pink shower gel belonged to Emily, with the iridescent glittering it provided when she squeezed it into her cupped hand. The shampoo, on the other hand, was more likely to be Paige's. She always smelt distinctly of coconut. Aurora couldn't say that the bubblegum of the shower gel and the coconut of the shampoo worked well together.

After ten minutes under the unyieldingly hot water, Aurora dried her pungently coconut smelling hair with a quick spell and rubbed her raw skin dry and into a rosy hue. She hopped back up to the dormitory in her dressing gown and sat down on her bed. After pausing for contemplation, Aurora shut the thick, woven curtains around her bed and stripped off the dressing gown. She didn't feel particularly uncomfortable around India and Emily and Paige, but rather Tessa.

Tessa. She felt as though she had lost an ally there. She had always thought that she wouldn't even consider prodding Aurora's and Charlie's relationship, but according to Elliot she had and Elliot was highly loyal to Aurora. Their loyalty to each other had been sworn on one cold December evening two years before when Aurora convinced a first year Hufflepuff that no, Elliot hadn't tripped him up and she dropped the squirmy bastard outside the hospital wing after knocking him out.

The knocking out had been accidental, after all, he had been squirming, and Aurora was always useless at spells. Everyone knew Divination and Astrology were her forte.

Aurora pulled her crisp uniform out from over the ornately carved mahogany headboard. It reminded her of her bedroom door at home; it seemed to perfectly match the very shade. For a moment, her heart ached to be back in the silent, swelteringly hot manor house. After fastening her bra and stepping into her underwear, she picked up her thick woollen tights and hesitated for a moment. It wasn't too cold was it? She disregarded them and flung them back at the headboard. Instead, she pulled her tight skirt up and checked there was no visible panty line. She pulled her shirt over her glossy hair and tucked only the hemline into the waist of her skirt. She knotted her green and silver striped tie over her shirt, tucked the skinny part of her tie into her shirt and fixed the knot.

Aurora flicked a small opening in her curtains and peeked through to Tessa's bed. She was still asleep; snoring like it was all she knew. Aurora grinned and rolled over to the other side of her bed and pulled out her makeup bag and the mirror she kept by the side of her bed.

* * *

"Aurora? Aurora?" Someone shouted from the doorway. Their desperate footsteps hammered across the several rugs and cold stone floor over to Aurora's bed.

"Do you really have to wake the whole house up, India? Your voice is like a foghorn; pipe down for Salazar's sake!" Aurora snapped as she ripped apart the curtains to her bed.

"Sorry, but Elliot's waiting for you upstairs. Says it's urgent. I'll go and tell him that you're up."

"Thanks, Indie. Tell him I'll be up in five."

India nodded and rushed out of the dormitory. Aurora adjusted her skirt, picked up her blazer from the headboard and headed out of the dorm to climb up the stairwell.

"Morning, sunshine. How was your sleep?" Elliot asked, offering Aurora his arm.

"It was standard. How was yours?" Aurora replied, graciously accepting Elliot's arm.

"Ah, mine was very, very good. I had such a fantastic dream last night. It was one of the usual type," Elliot said as they ducked into the hallway. "I know how you love the details, so I shall share in all due time."

Aurora laughed. "Alright. Spill."

* * *

"And that, my dear, is when I realised I have an unremitting desire to have sex with you. Alas, I shall not act on my aspiration for that is just bad manners between friends."

Aurora smirked at Elliot and began, "Well, just let me know and I'll see if I can fit you in."

Elliot laughed at her unintentional joke. "Well that certainly sounds promising. I just hope it's not too," He suppressed a giggle and wiggled his eyebrows, "Difficult."

Aurora grinned too. "Alright, let's just have breakfast and then go to lessons. Unfortunately I have a scheme going at the moment, so I'm going to be unavailable for a few weeks, maybe months."

"Oh, a tough nut to crack, huh?"

"Apparently so, yes. I'd hate to over-estimate, but it always is harder to convince someone so much more mature than myself that I'm not a child."

Aurora and Elliot sat down near the top of the Slytherin table, closest to the teachers table.

"You're sixteen."

"And by the time I've convinced the certain somebody, I'll be of age. Plus, the Muggle's legal age of consent or whatever is 16, so it's not really that important."

"That means your 'relationship' with Charlie, or whatever label you're putting on it, has been illegal, at least in the Muggle's eyes, for a good three, four years?"

"Oh, shut up," Aurora snapped, "And let me eat, I've got back-to-back Astrology this morning."

"I thought second period was free for you?"

"It was, until Swannie helped me with my Herbology in exchange for me helping him with his firsties."

"I did think that you did that homework surprisingly quickly. I'm guessing this is a one-off, is it?"

"Depends," Aurora said with a shrug.

"I won't ask what it depends on. How're you getting back at Charlie?"

"Whatever makes you think I want to get back at Charlie, El? I'm not that heartless!" She objected, her voice higher than usual as she balanced herself on the edge of the wooden bench.

"You're lying. You always perch yourself on the edge of your seat when you lie to me," Elliot pointed out.

Aurora groaned. "Fine, whatever. I have a plan that is far too undeveloped to share, El. I'll let you know if it works."

Elliot sighed, defeated. "I guess. Bacon and eggs?"

* * *

Aurora flicked her hair out of her right eye at the back of the Astrology classroom. Nate was talking about something that clearly enraptured the rest of the class, maybe it was something about recapping some OWL work? Aurora wasn't sure, and she didn't fancy being sure about it.

Nate picked up on Aurora's distaste as she examined her hair for split ends and he taught the class how to recognise the constellation Vela. She was staying behind, regardless, so before he let the first years in, he could always have a quick chat with her. That depended on him holding his nerve for a good three minutes, which hadn't proved possible in their previous encounters.

The bell in the corridor rang and everyone in the class, barring Aurora began to pack up their things, some hastier than others. Nate caught James Potter shooting Aurora with a furtive glance. Not quite sneaky enough, admittedly, but he caught the softening of James' glare and stored the knowledge for later.

Once the class had filed out, Aurora smiled at Nate from the back of the class.

"Aurora, I want a word with you," Nate began as he shuffled meaningless papers across his desk, trying to feign any kind of importance.

"Yes, Nate?" Aurora asked. She could tell he was avoiding eye contact with her. "Is there a –" her chair scraped across the floorboards, "Problem?"

Nate stole a look up and found himself so close to Aurora that their noses almost touched. "Oh, Aurora. I was just wondering if anything that I said in that lesson managed to permeate your brain."

Aurora smiled. Nate tried to pull his eyes away from Aurora's, but they continually gravitated to hold her gaze. The very first time he had looked at her, he had been amazed. He'd never seen anyone with eyes quite like hers. One, her left, was the colour of slate, with a tiny hint of a violet-blue colour coming through around her pupil, although Nate thought that was due to not blinking for a good forty-five seconds. Nate likened her right eye to a clear chartreuse hue. Even Professor Smiths' apparent beauty had paled in comparison.

Aurora turned her head to the door and Nate felt his legs collapse like overcooked linguine. Something about the very way she had looked him had disconcerted him to the point where he could no longer stand.

"I'll get the kids. Try not to make a mess, Nathaniel," She said, almost disapprovingly.

Nate sighed and threw his head down into his arms on the desk. Stupid. Never should've signed up for this. Aurora had apparently opened the door, as the sound of thirty-five first years trouping into the room was unmistakable.

"Good morning, everyone. How are we all today?"

The huddle of kids made a murmured agreement as Aurora scooped up her things from the back of the room and chucked them under Nate's desk. Nate smiled as the smell of coconut wafted into his face and passed her the seating plan. Aurora hastily swept her hair over one of her shoulders, exposing half of the sensitive skin of back of her neck to the world, or at least to him. He found himself with a craving to reach up and kiss her neck. He blushed and glanced away in embarrassment.

Aurora smiled at Nate's sudden flush and began allocating butts to seats.

* * *

"Well that was some form of medieval torture," Aurora said melodramatically as she threw herself onto the green velvet sofa by the fire in the common room.

"That bad, huh?" Elliot said, looking up from his magazine. Aurora smiled meekly and nodded. "Alright. Kitchen trip?"

"I don't want to get up for the next hour. I've got to mentally prepare for all the idiots I've got to sit with in Muggle Studies."

"Ooh, who do you sit with that you hate so much? I want the gossip."

"That angle doesn't work on you, El. It's all three of them: Potter, Wilkes and ruddy Louis."

"Well you get on well enough with Louis, I suppose. I guess you have the common ground of shagging a ton of people."

Aurora's fist connected with Elliot's upper arm. "Ow! There's no need to be so violent, darling 'Rora. Still, what's wrong with Pottsie and who's Wilkes?"

"Potter is getting on my nerves because he's always staring at me. I don't like it, it makes me feel uncomfortable."

"Just ask him to stop?"

"Well, gee Mr Smartass, I'd never thought of that!" Aurora scolded sarcastically. "I'm going to force him to stop today or tomorrow, and Wilkes is Rachel Wilkes, some Hufflepuff idiot in my year. Can't stand her."

"You've been in her presence for about two hours and you already have an opinion on her?"

"I have an opinion on everyone, or has your six week absence from my lovely presence forgotten that?"

Elliot had almost forgotten his trip to the Bianchi Manor at the beginning of the summer holidays. Aurora had offered him the use of the expansive library over the summer so he could keep up with his studies.

"No, Aurora, it hasn't," Elliot said, smiling. "You have an opinion on opinions, for crying out loud!"

"Of course I do. Opinions make people more interesting."

Elliot could hardly contest to her argument; she was such an opinionated person: using the reasoning that they were more interesting and opinions were never wrong and she was right.

"Sure, sure," He checked the time on his watch. "I've gotta go to Care of Magical Creatures, see you at lunch, yeah?"

Aurora smiled, "Sure. If you see Xand coming down from Transfig, let him know I'm here."

"Will do. Chat later."

* * *

James arrived three minutes late to Muggle Studies to find Aurora's and Louis's seat empty too. He had already decided that trying to sneak back into his seat was inevitable. He considered the idea that Teddy had purposefully arranged it this way and the thought manifested.

"It's lovely of you to join us, James. Maybe try being on time later?" Teddy said as he walked in.

"I'll try," James said, almost jokingly. Teddy's glare was anything but amused.

"Right, today we're going to be looking at the politics of the Muggle society."

James yanked his purple book out of his bag and threw it onto the table. Rachel jumped at the noise. She caught the empty chair next to her with her foot and scraped it across the floor. Teddy frowned but resumed calling out the register, skipping over Aurora's and Louis' names.

* * *

Half an hour later, Aurora and Louis walked in to the class. James shot Louis a seething look as the exact shade of Aurora's lipstick was just about visible through the thin cotton of his shirt. Aurora's maroon lips turned into a smile as she observed the jealous look of James and the smug one of Louis and turned to Professor Lupin.

"Sorry I'm late, sir. I got lost," She employed the voice that she knew every teacher couldn't resist. Charlie had titled it, with all his eloquence, as the 'You're-Not-Ever-Going-To-Give-Me-Detention' Voice.

Teddy let her off, without as much as a second glance. "What's your excuse, Louis?"

Louis guffawed. "What about her?" He pointed to Aurora. "'I got lost' is hardly a good excuse!"

Teddy smiled and before he could voice his thoughts, Aurora spoke.

"Unfortunately, you seem to have forgotten how long it took me to memorise my timetable last year. I thought I had Charms now. Not to mention that I lost this year's timetable."

In defeat, Louis sat down next to her. She did admittedly have a history of being late to classes.

"That was a one-time thing, may I remind you," James caught Aurora's low hiss from across the table.

"And what if the situation arises again?" Louis replied, cheekily glancing back down at her.

"It won't. Darling," Aurora added condescendingly. "Remember that I know exactly what you look like while having sex."

* * *

"Aurora!" A voice called out from the back of the greenhouses. Aurora turned around and caught the curly red hair of Molly Weasley. The little light that filtered through the dirt-covered glass panes of the greenhouse reflected off her hair and gave her a halo of light around her head.

"Yep?" Aurora hoped that Molly was content with her share of the savings. "I heard you had to put some stuff away, yeah?"

"Oh, yeah." Molly smiled and nodded her head. Both of the girls had caught on to Professor Longbottom's footsteps and were now happily talking in their improvised code. It wasn't hard for them to infer what the other meant. If someone over heard them, they would think that both girls were particularly passionate about maple syrup. "Did you get the chance to try any?" Molly gathered her folders and bag from under the table and shifted the strap of her bag up her skinny shoulder. Aurora's attention flickered to the rows and rows of plants in red terracotta pots and then to the outlines of the wild vines that snaked up and blanketed the dirty glass.

"I'm not one to try it while I'm selling, thanks. You should know that after last year," She said, snapping back to reality.

"Of course, of course. Forgive me. What kind of mood is Lupin in today?"

"Eh, I was late but he was fairly forgiving. Not so much with Louis, so watch your back. Say it was my fault if he asks why you're late."

"Thanks. I'll see you at dinner, alright?"

"Yeah. See you."

Molly turned and left, throwing a goodbye to Professor Longbottom as she hurried past.

"Alright, I hope you've all come with your dragonskin gloves, because today it's going to get acidic in here," Professor Longbottom called out from the front of his class.

Aurora sighed and turned back to the classroom.

* * *

When Aurora turned up for Divination, she found Lily waiting outside with the rest of the class. She ducked behind a small gathering of Gryffindors with the primary intention of avoiding Tessa and slipped into a conversation with Lily. It would work better than if she just stood there like she was lost.

"Hey Lils. What're you doing here?"

Aurora didn't catch the way Lily was looking at her, nor did she seem to notice Lily's wide, trusting eyes either. She seemed to be waiting for something.

"Oh, Professor Trelawney and Miss Brown asked me to be a demonstration for your class. She said you were looking at auras this lesson and if I didn't mind being the demo. I can't wait!"

"Well, I can," Aurora murmured.

"What was that?" Lily asked.

"I said I can't either. I've always wanted to study auras."

"Oh. Okay."

The hatch in the ceiling above them opened and the ladder descended, parting the sea of students into two crowds. Aurora sorted out her bag and stepped onto the first rung. She scampered up the ladder and stepped into the class.

"How lovely to see you, Aurora dear. This is Miss Brown, and she's going to be earning her title as a Professor of Divination with us. Today's class will not be led by Miss Brown, instead I am going to introduce you to the new topic of auras."

"Ah, yes. Are we using Lily Potter in today's class? I saw her outside and she informed me that she was helping today."

"Yes and she'll be getting extra credit for that when it comes to examination season. I was hoping you might take up the task of looking for the girl's aura? My eyes are tired and I do not want to stress myself out today. I was also hoping that you could demonstrate your Inner Eye for Miss Brown. She's aware of your mother's legacy, you see, and she's never had the pleasure of meeting such a young, talented Seer before, and I was really hoping you could lead the practical today."

"Yes, of course. Call on me when you need me or something."

"Excellent. If you'd like to take your seat now. Miss Brown, shall we begin with a little tea-reading exercise?" Professor Trelawney turned and asked the woman behind her. Aurora caught a glimpse of a scarred face but nothing more before Miss Brown vanished behind the screen again. Aurora returned her rings to her fingers, stacking them up in odd orders. She wasn't quite sure where the silver chevron one had gone, but she could make up for it with another, older one.

"Good morning ladies," Professor Trelawney paused. "And gentleman. It's a pleasure to have you all here today, as usual. There will be no tea-reading today because I fear that we won't have time to all get the chance at the practical. Today we are going to look at auras and how to identify them on other people. If we'd all like to welcome Miss Potter, who is going to be our test subject," The professor paused and allowed the class to clap quietly. "And if I could have a volunteer to read her aura."

Several hands rose. "Aurora, come up here."

Aurora stood, without putting her hand in the air. There were several grumbles, but no-one dared protest too loudly.

Professor Trelawney dabbled through how to read an aura and prattled on, revising Aurora's knowledge of the topic.

"Alright, if you'd like to read Lily's aura, dear."

Aurora stared. And she stared. Until her eyes began to burn holes in the back of her skull. When a colour became apparent against the white screen, Aurora turned back to her table and flipped up her textbook. She snapped open the book with enough force to audibly crack the spine.

"Navy, dark or muddy blue – means that the owner may have a fear of the future, self-expression or facing the truth." Aurora snapped the textbook shut and tossed it lazily onto the table. She smiled at Professor Trelawney as she strolled over to the teacups and made herself a cup of tea. Aurora sat back down and placed her teacup and saucer on the desk beside the crystal ball while the teacher explained more about auras. Aurora took the opportunity to drink the rest of her tea and take a quick little nap before heading out to go back the Slytherin common room.

The class packed up their things and left. Aurora noted the distinct lack of blue and bronze in the mass of students leaving. There was perhaps a handful of Gryffindors, four or so Slytherins, including Aurora and Tessa and the rest of were Hufflepuffs. Somehow Professor Trelawney had managed to scrape an averaged size class together.

"Are you going down to dinner now, 'Rora?" Lily asked as she walked in synch with Aurora.

"What? Oh, yeah. Of course," Aurora said, momentarily forgetting that it was dinner time.

"Great. Can I sit with you? I don't know where any of my dormmates are…"

"Yeah, of course."

The pair walked down to the Great Hall in silence.

"How's James?" Lily asked after a while.

Aurora smiled softly at Lily. "He's alright. He didn't look too pleased when Louis and I came late to Muggle Studies."

"Where were you then?"

Aurora hesitated and weighed up the pros and cons of telling Lily what had happened in the deserted fifth floor Alchemy classroom.

"We had an argument. Nothing big, really, just a small altercation."

Lily shrugged and brought the conversation round to food. "I wonder what's for dinner. I hope there's some pasta."

"It's the first Wednesday here, last year it was roast beef for some strange reason. I vaguely recall it being tofu for vegetarians."

"Alright. Any idea what it was the year before?"

"I believe that was the first day, so we had the welcome feast."

"Thanks. Oh, hi James." Lily's feet stopped functioning.

"Lily. Aurora," James said curtly.

"However can we help you today?" Aurora snapped.

"I want to talk to you on your own, thanks." James made a shooing motion with his hand towards his little sister.

"I should think that you have a little more respect for your sister. Lily, do you mind leaving me and your useless lump of a sibling out here so I can strangle something incoherent out of him?"

"Yeah, sure. I'll save you a seat."

"See you in three."

Lily turned and disappeared through the doorway to the Great Hall. Aurora folded her arms across her chest and frowned at James.

"What's your problem?" She asked.

"Do you really have to mess with my cousin?"

"Oh. That. Ew," Aurora rolled her eyes. "Louis is a perfectly capable young man who doesn't need you to govern his every move and that is all I have to say on the topic."

"He's been going on about you for the last half hour, the least you could do is give him some closure," James exclaimed.

Aurora smiled. "I do tend to have that effect on people, my dearest ginger snap. Nothing personal, but I really don't care so, if you'll excuse me, I have food to eat." The smile remained on her face as she calmly turned away.

* * *

A/N: Hope you enjoyed. Reviews are appreciated!  
Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter universe. My OC's and the plot are the only things I can take any form of credit for.


	8. titanium

titanium

It was another brisk evening in the corridors of Hogwarts and Aurora had been walking down the labyrinth of corridors for a good three minutes as one person called her name over and over. Even the portraits had begun to move from gilded frame to gilded frame to remind her that someone was trying to catch her attention.

"Aurora?"

Despite recognising the voice, Aurora continued walking to the Great Hall. She blatantly ignored it, as she wasn't in the mood to talk with Tessa.

"Aurora?" A hand swiped at her sleeve, spun her around, forcing her to face Tessa and Charlie. "What's up? You were ignoring my shouts for like five minutes!"

Aurora bit her tongue as she smiled complacently. "Nothing. I was preoccupied with something from Divination." She caught Charlie smiling behind Tessa and raised an eyebrow.

"Of course you were," Tessa said, rolling her eyes. "I was wondering if you were alright? I mean I'm not trying to be funny but you look like microwaved shit."

"Microwaved? What's that?"

"Forget it. Can we chat later?"

"Sure. By the way, don't forget task three."

"Are we doing that tonight then?" Charlie asked.

"Yeah, I suppose. It makes sense. I need a word with you," Aurora said.

"Sure. What's up?"

Aurora glanced at Tessa. "Alone," She affirmed.

Tessa grumbled, but eventually relented after Charlie made a shooing motion and she left for the hall alone.

"What's up?" Charlie asked, feigning nonchalance.

"Don't even consider using that tone on me, Charles," Aurora seethed, "I am going to give you three instructions and you are going to follow them, understand?"

Charlie nodded. Aurora had a habit of terrifying him at times and the best thing for him was surrender. She brandished a finger in the direction of his chest and prodded him.

"One, you are going to sit with me at dinner and me alone. Two, you are not going to talk or even think about Tessa for the next twenty minutes. Three, if you don't understand or follow either of those, I can and will publicly humiliate you. Understand?"

Charlie nodded again. "Fine. Just today?"

Aurora squinted. "Until I decide otherwise, I suppose."

Charlie frowned, but agreed. He slipped his hand into Aurora's and tugged her along to the hall. They walked past the Hufflepuffs, Gryffindors and Ravenclaws in silence, not even sharing a snide glance with the other. They walked down to the end of the table at the back of the hall together. Charlie itched to call back out to his friends that he'd talk with them later, but simply nodded and gave a small, acknowledging wave to the group.

Aurora sat down opposite him and for a moment he saw the twelve year old girl he had fallen so hard for all those years ago. Her eyes were dead behind the lids, but she had an unsurpassable ability to appear happy. Not to mention the colours of her eyes. She could enchant anyone with her eyes, just knowing that they were fixed on someone made them do the craziest things. Many eons ago, Charlie had once joked that Aurora might've been distantly related to a Veela. Given the current situation, that joke no longer held true.

"I had a chat with McGoogles about heads of houses and she said that it would be best if the teachers did it. She and Sophia barely let me get a word in after that. I'll try again at the meeting in two weeks' time."

Aurora smiled, however her eyes remained blank.

"Do you need to go outside for a smoke?" Charlie asked, lowering his voice.

Aurora shook her head and then reconsidered. "Maybe. Post dinner, sure. Not right now."

"Are you really going to eat that?" Charlie said as he picked up a carrot stick with his fingers and bit into it. It crunched as he chewed it and began to make faces. "I thought this was cooked. Ugh."

"Under-cooking the veggies is the new thing for the house elves. This time last year it was over-cooking, so consider yourself lucky. Nothing worse than a floppy carrot."

Charlie grinned. "I guess. Shall we go?"

"Let me just have a couple of potatoes or something or I'll pass out."

"Alright. Also, I'm sorry about what happened between me and Tessa."

Aurora disregarded it and scraped the frozen asparagus across her plate, making a barrier for the gravy. She looked up and past Charlie's head and caught eye contact with James as though it was a fish hooked on the end of a line. He turned away in embarrassment as Aurora continued staring.

"No, listen, I'm really sorry." Charlie clasped Aurora's skinny hand in his for a moment before she realised what was happening and yanked it back. Her attention flickered over him as her pupils dilated and then she glanced away.

Charlie opted to ignore the gesture and placed his cutlery at twelve o'clock on his plate. Aurora finished her dinner, wiped a dribble of gravy off the edge of the table and copied Charlie's movements.

"Shall we go?" He asked in an undertone.

"Yeah. Of course." Aurora and Charlie stood up together and walked towards the top of the Hall. Someone called out and captured their attention from the Slytherin table.

"Hey, you guys going out for a smoke?" Elliot asked.

Charlie nodded. Aurora folded her arms and made sure that Charlie caught note of it.

"Can I come with?"

Aurora pursed her lips and then glanced up to Charlie. "No," she said after a while, her voice colder than ice. "Although, I wouldn't say no to the Hufflepuff Potter." She added, whispering up to Charlie.

Charlie shrugged and contemplated it. "Maybe not now. Why not try Lily?"

"I want to quiz the boy's ass into the cobbled flooring, give me a chance. Although," she paused for a moment of silence. "I do want to tip her towards leading the brigade when I leave."

The pair left Elliot and the rest of the Quidditch team but stopped again beside the teacher's table. The colour of the sky, visible through the intricate windows behind the teachers, purpled as the sun disappeared beyond the charcoaled horizon. Aurora smiled momentarily but relaxed her facial muscles when she caught Charlie's eyes following her.

Charlie had always been an attractive boy. When Aurora was known as Marina back in her very first year at Hogwarts, he had avoided the 'firsties' like the plague and behaved with such superiority that even narcissistic Marina had a hard time believing that she was important to the house.

He had really had it all though: eyes the colour of a clear morning sky, cheekbones so high they were almost in another galaxy and a particular proficiency in both sporting events and academics. As he grew older, he began to fill out of his semi-weedy frame and stubble began to grow across his face. Unlike most of the other students, he had a fairly easy slide into manhood, with very few insecurities and a showering of adoring house-mates and teachers. All of which perpetually reassured him if he ever ended up tangled in the meshing of adolescence.

Aurora tucked her hand into his, shot a snide glance at the back of Tessa's head, but then found her eyes searching the teacher's table. It didn't take long for her to find who she was looking for, as the person in question was looking directly at her in return. Aurora smiled at her Astrology professor, rolled up onto her tiptoes and kissed Charlie on the cheek.

She revelled in watching Professor Swan storm out and in turn, she pulled Charlie out of the hall.

There was very little time for her to work with if her plan was going to run smoothly.

* * *

Aurora had perched on top of one of the stone gargoyles and lazily dragged at the cigarette Charlie had gifted her. They had found the spot a year and a half previously and found the archway above them kept them from being located by teachers, most ghosts and even Peeves.

"Did I upset you?"

Aurora hesitated. Before anything could be kept under lock, everything she thought of Charlie came out in a flurry of swearwords and incoherent sentences.

"Are you kidding me?" She scoffed. "Of course you upset me, you wanker! You went off and fucked one of my – scratch that – my best friend while I wasn't in for one evening because I was at work!"

"Work?" Charlie replied, astounded that she was still lying. "You don't have a job. If you mean that stupid thing where you help Molly sell drugs to minors, then yes, I guess that constitutes as a job!"

"Just because you can't help with shit like that now you're the serious and grown-up big Head Boy! How would you like it if I went off and became all serious over the summer holidays? Not to mention that I didn't even see you over the holidays! Were you too busy fucking my best friend then, too?"

Charlie winced. He had never managed to find a niche against the impenetrable wall that was Aurora's arguing talents. She smirked and flicked the stub of her cigarette out into the open grass in front of them.

"You know what, Charles? I don't even fucking give a shit any more. Screw Tessa all you want, but may I also remind you that I have denied Elliot sex in exchange for him shutting up about every single almost sexual encounter he's ever had? I might have to take him up on that offer, actually. Maybe he won't be as difficult as you. At least he doesn't think he's fucking Narcissus or whatever Greek dude you're just like."

Aurora stood up, straightened herself out and waited to see if Charlie would attempt a verbal barrage in exchange. She was three paces away from him when he snatched at her wrist and spun her round. He seized her upper arms and practically shook her as he spoke.

"You know what, Aurora? You can go screw whoever you like. See if I care." His usually perfect blue eyes were red and puffy and Aurora couldn't have hated him if she tried. So she didn't. She didn't even bother to fight the impending avalanche of feelings. The very same ones she had hoped to vacate back in second year.

She spoke no more but presented a simmering glare and stormed off, back into the inner workings of the castle.

* * *

After abandoning the breakfast table, Professor Swan decided to head down to the kitchens to pick up a little extra food. He had been at his desk for a good two hours and the pains of his hungry stomach had begun to settle in.

Professor Flitwick had introduced him to the kitchens several weeks before, at his induction day. He had been given a basic map of Hogwarts, directions to any potential classrooms and promptly ditched to find his own way. He had also been informed that he was assigned to Ravenclaw house, which was why Professor Flitwick had given him all that information.

He tickled the pear on the painting and entered the kitchens.

"Mr Swan, sir, what would you like?" A house elf that Nate had become well acquainted with asked.

"Usual please, Wendy."

The house elf bowed but then promptly blew her nose on her improvised tea towel apron. Nate smiled affectionately and then moved over to the overstuffed green sofa that leant against the corner. He hadn't heard the soft sobs emanating from that corner of the room up until then and he was surprised to be confronted with a shaking bundle of tucked up limbs. Whoever it was sat with their head down, leaning over their curled up legs. Nate was quick to establish that it was a female, for a start. Secondly, he deduced that she was in Slytherin. The badge on her blazer was enough evidence to support that theory.

After a moment's hesitation, Nate sat down next to the girl, which prompted her to stifle the crying into sobs.

"Are- Are you alright?" He asked after a couple of minutes of uncomfortable silence.

"Yeah, I'm just peachy!" The girl snapped. Nate recognized that the girl had an accent, so it was likely that she was one of the students from overseas. "What the hell do you want?"

"Nothing. Do you take Astrology?"

"Yes, I take fucking Astrology. What's it to you?"

Nate automatically recognized the way 'Astrology' was pronounced. "Just wondering. Have you done your homework yet, Aurora?"

"No. Piss off, Nate. I'm not in the mood."

"Are you sure? I could help you with it if you're interested?" His tone took on a light, teasing lilt.

"Nathaniel, I'm going to say this once: I don't do my homework. Don't ask me to do it," Aurora growled at him. She twisted her head to turn and face him. "And don't fucking push me or I'll let Peeves terrorise you day and night. Trust me, he wants to."

Nate noticed that she definitely wasn't in a good mood, so he nodded and leant back on his side of the sofa. His head processed the image of Aurora slowly, as though he was looking at it like a constellation. First, he found the links: the watery, red eyes; the lone tear that had followed through with its threats to roll down her cheek. The possibilities were endless. Her bottom lip quivered for a second before she turned back to her knees. Her body began to shake again and instead of ignoring it, Nate put his arms around her and allowed her to smother his shoulder with tears.

Long after his food appeared, Aurora pushed away from Nate.

"I-I should go. Sorry your food's cold," She said, hastily pulling herself together. Without saying another word, she abandoned the kitchens and Nate.

* * *

Aurora spent the rest of her evening with a chronic case of uncertainty. She wanted to stroll out into the common room with her head held high, but on the other hand, she didn't feel like getting out of her bed. Plus, where would she go? The kitchens had been ditched for the next two weeks and the library was out of the question. She hadn't dipped a toe in those waters since first year.

When India came storming down the stairs, Aurora rolled onto her side so her back was facing away from the entrance to the dorm and pulled the covers over her head.

"Aurora?"

"Fuck off," Aurora snapped back.

"Alright, calm it Kermit!" India laughed as she left. Aurora smiled from underneath the covers. After a few moments, she stuck her head up for air and wrapped the curtains around her bed. She changed into her pyjamas and tucked herself in for the night.

* * *

The shrill screams of the alarm clock woke Aurora up at four thirty. She muffled her groans of needing more sleep and shut it off. She rolled out of bed and landed with her feet on the floor. She crouched down and reached under her bed to retrieve the Horn. She pulled on her slippers that Charlie had charmed for her to make no noise and left the dorm room to wake up the girls.

Less than ten minutes later, Aurora had congregated the whole of the Slytherin first years in the common room. She hoped that the silencing charm would actually stick this time.

"So, task three. From now on, initiation is run by me and me only, understand?" Aurora's voice snapped through the silence of the assembled children.

They nodded as one, as though they thought as one.

"This task is a battle for who will climb over who. When you go back to your dorm room, look on your blazer pocket. You see that Slytherin logo that someone, probably a house elf spent around thirty seconds stitching on? I want two of those, but I want Hufflepuff ones. However, if I find that you've taken them off that blonde-haired girl who's always attached to the black-haired one, you'll be shamed as an outcast. Do we all comprehend that?"

The group nodded again.

"Good. Now, head back to your dorms and sleep tight. Don't let the bed bugs bite!" Aurora said in a sing-song voice. "And if any of you wake the other students, I'll hang you by your toes in the owlery as though you were a bat for the next eight hours. Nighty night!"

* * *

A/N: Hope you enjoyed. There might be a prequel to this soon. I haven't decided just yet, although it's certainly floating around the back of my head!  
Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter universe. My OC's and the plot are the only things I can take any form of credit for.

**Reviews:**

see u belong – Well thanks, I was aiming for Louis to be a little bit funny!

please-callmejohnwatson – ty bubs I used one here! (I think?)

Marauder Twilight – Thanks, Aurora does have her humorous moments, but she also does a have a tidbit of a darker side, which'll be demonstrated in later chapters.


	9. hell

hell

Instead of being roused by her alarm clock, Aurora was woken by Paige.

"'Rora, wakey wakey sunshine," She murmured, "Oh good, you're up. Xander and Ells are upstairs, they asked if I could get you up."

"It is school today, isn't it?" Aurora asked as she reached through her sleepy haze for her clock. Half six. Emily would wake up any minute now but Tessa would be another hour, maybe two.

"Yes, it is. I'll tell them you're up." Aurora took in Paige's uniform and tried nodding. "Alright, just get ready."

Aurora repeated her regular morning routine and she had reached the point where she was beginning to enjoy the familiarity. She tugged her tie down a little after surveying her appearance and slung the cardigan with silver and green trimmings on over her shirt. She pulled the blazer on after that and tucked everything important into her pockets. Muggle Studies was Aurora's first class that day and she was dreading it.

She left the warm dormitory behind and shut the door behind her as quietly as she could. Tessa had whined when she had got in the previous night about how Aurora was 'totally just like over-reacting' which had begun to sound normal to Aurora.

At least the plan was working.

Aurora emerged from the frozen stairwell to find Lysander and Elliot playing a game of magical snap on one of the sofas.

"If you keep that up, you're going to burn a hole through the sofa," She joked.

Both boys looked up and the person that Aurora had failed to note shifted by the fireplace.

"Charlie." Lysander mouthed as Elliot spoke.

"So, when are you going to emerge from your cocoon, victorious as new born butterfly?"

"Oh, Elliot, I became a butterfly eons ago. This time, I think I'm going to deposit a layer of my skin at my dad's place over the Christmas holidays and slither off to Italy again."

"Ah, the snake approach. Classy."

Aurora smiled. "We are residing in the house of the serpents, are we not? Now, are we going up to breakfast or are we going to spend the next half hour down here, amongst the peons that share this common room?"

"Someone would think you have a problem with the youth of this school." Lysander laughed.

"I do?" Aurora's eyebrows furrowed as she turned to Lysander.

* * *

Lysander grinned as Elliot and Aurora bickered from opposite sides of the table.

"You are so going to get put in for early exams!"

"Am not!"

"Are too! You're like some crazy genius!"

"Puh-lease, I'm anything but. Also, how often do I do classwork, let alone homework? They probably don't think I can pull the grades."

Elliot laughed. "I forgot that, dearest. Trelawney'll heckle Sluggy into letting you do Divination, at least."

Aurora smiled. "I suppose. I don't really need a NEWT in Divination anyways. Stupid 'Inner Eye'."

Elliot and Lysander laughed.

"Is it just me or is it like eighty degrees in here today?" Aurora muttered as she stripped off her blazer and cardigan.

"I think that just you, dearest. Are you intending on telling us what happened with your good 'friend' Charles?" Lysander asked as he sipped at his hot chocolate.

Aurora stared at Lysander until he got the point.

"I'm going to take that as a no," He said after a while.

"Well done, gold star for you! Now, I need to chat with Professor Trelawney before she has her first class. See you later, yeah?"

Elliot and Lysander's murmurs of assent overlapped to form one. Aurora pulled her blazer back on and her shoulders hunched at the weight of all the things in her pockets. She pulled herself up from the table and accidentally left her cardigan behind. It wasn't long before it was picked up by someone else, who sat exactly where she had and spoke to the same people she had before.

* * *

"Miss?" A small voice called to Aurora in the hallway. She turned around folded her arms across her chest.

"Can I help?" She snapped.

"For task three. I'm Tony Rogers."

"Lovely. Do me a favour; go tell Elliot Masters down in the Great Hall. He's with Lysander. You know Lysander, right?"

The boy nodded and skittered off, dropping the badge he had clutched so tightly. Aurora smiled and shook her head. She scooped it up and tucked it into her pockets and made a mental note of the boy's name. She continued her route to Professor Trelawney's classroom and thought of what she was going to say.

* * *

"Aurora, dear, how nice it is for you to visit! Tea, perhaps?"

Aurora shook her head. "No thanks, I have to get back to my dorm to find my Muggle Studies classbook."

"I thought you got folders at NEWT level for that subject?"

"I'm using last year's book. Still, I was wondering if I could talk to you about the early exams."

"Oh those. I forgot to tell your class about them. I'll do it tomorrow morning."

"Would you consider entering me for them?"

"You'll have to bring your written work up, of course, but definitely. It might be an idea to work on your other grades too, dearest. That way, you're more likely to get the chance."

"Alright. It's only Herbology that's my real problem."

"That's lovely."

Aurora took this as her professor closing the topic and she bid goodbye. She hurried back down to the dormitory, past Charlie and Tessa canoodling in an alcove, past another first year, who she told to, "For the lover of Merlin, inform Elliot Masters!" and past her Muggle Studies teacher.

She collapsed on her bed and closed her eyes for a quick nap. She shut the curtains around her bed and curled up into a ball. A few minutes later, she heard someone come down the stairs.

"Yeah, just tell him I'll be one sec!" The voice dropped and formed a whisper, "Aw, Aurora's having a hissy. This is hilarious. The prissy bitch has probably cried herself to sleep."

Aurora rolled her eyes and gave the middle finger to Tessa from behind her bed curtains. She heard someone open her bed curtains a little and shut her eyes.

"I was right!" Tessa called back up the stairs.

"Can we just go, please Tess?" Charlie called back. To Aurora, he sounded uncomfortable.

"Alright. Found my Transfiguration book, let's go!" Tessa slammed the door as she left and Aurora burst into laughter. She had always found jealous Tessa hilarious.

* * *

"So nice of you to be on time today, Aurora!" Professor Lupin announced to the class as she walked in behind Rachel.

"Well thank you. Should I curtsey?" She sniped back.

Professor Lupin forced a smile and motioned for her to sit down next to Louis.

Once all the members of the class were sat down in their correct seats, Teddy addressed the class.

"For the next three weeks, I have decided to let you lot loose with a little project work. Now, each table is going to get assigned a category and it is the table member's jobs to research that topic. There are textbooks over there," He gestured to the corner of the room, where several stacks of oddly shaped textbooks sat, precariously balancing on each other. He then walked around the class and handed each table a piece of parchment with their given category on and finished at Aurora's table.

"You guys are going to be looking at the Muggle schooling system and the developments it's made in the past century or so." He placed down the piece of paper and received three death glares.

"Are you kidding?" Aurora snapped. "If I wanted a history lesson, I'd go and sit in the History of Magic classroom."

"It's this or work on your own."

Aurora contemplated it. "No, I don't get the chance to bully as many people if I work alone."

"Alright. Play nicely, okay?"

"You got it, Captain!" She mock-saluted him and skimmed the piece of paper. He rolled his eyes and walked over to sit at his desk. Aurora was always going to be somewhat of an enigma to him, half the time she was executing something and the rest of the time she was planning it.

* * *

"So, Rachel, you look at the first years of schooling, Louis you do the middle years and James can do higher education. Solved," Aurora announced.

"And what are you going to do?" James asked pointedly.

"Well good sir, I am going to take a nap. I'm absolutely shattered after yesterday."

"And what the hell did you do yesterday?" Louis snapped, smacking his fist down on the table.

Aurora shot him the deadliest glare she could and promptly folded her arms over the table to lay her head on them.

"And what do you think you're doing, Aurora?" Teddy asked as he approached the table.

"I'm talking to you, what do you think I'm doing?"

"Enough of the sass, Aurora. Why does it look like you're about to turn off for the next half hour?"

"Because I am? I'm tired."

"So you're not going to join in on the group work," Teddy conceded.

"Yup!"

"How would you like to catch up with their work in detention?"

"It kind of defeats the point of group work, I suppose."

Teddy laughed. "Detention, tomorrow evening. You should know the drill by now."

"Of course I do, Tedster!"

"It's Professor Lupin. Get on with your nap. James, save some work for Aurora to do."

* * *

James flicked through his textbook as Aurora lay with her head cradled in her arms. She was either asleep, or incredibly good at feigning it. He wasn't the most observant boy in the world, the glances that Teddy, who was currently engaged to his cousin Victoire, slipped in Aurora's direction went unnoticed.

James had been delighted to hear the news. Albus was happy for the sole reason that everyone else was happy. Lily had locked herself in the bathroom upon hearing the news and it took several hours and several shifts of different people sitting outside the door talking to her to try to get her out. For some reason, it was Molly, who was the last person to attempt it, that got Lily out of the bathroom.

James was first in to pee. Whoever thought that a house full of people with only one bathroom was a good idea, James didn't know.

Still, Lily had gone to Molly's room and Molly, the locking aficionado of all the cousins, had shut the two of them in there for several hours and Lily came out looking much, much happier and Molly wasn't frowning.

Whatever had happened, it had significantly improved the mood of both girls. No-one asked what they had got up to.

"Are you using this?" James was snapped back to the present as Louis asked Rachel if he could borrow her textbook. "Mine doesn't seem to have anything about the exams at the end of junior school. Just says they have them."

Rachel pushed the textbook towards Louis and smiled. She bowed her head to her work and continued writing in her flawless calligraphy. James glanced at Aurora's head and then headed back to work.

* * *

At the end of the lesson, Aurora was the first to leave the class. She gathered her things after snatching up the detention slip and skittered out of the classroom without a word. Teddy and James caught note of her scrunching up the slip and jamming it into her pocket as she abandoned ship.

"I left this for her," James said as he handed Teddy a worksheet he'd drawn up for her.

"Thanks, I'll see if I can get her to do it. See you tomorrow."

"See you."

James followed Aurora through the seemingly never-ending rabbit warren of corridors until they reached the greenhouses. The seventh year class had begun to pour out as the sixth years arrived.

"Aurora!" Molly's voice rose above the huddle. She walked over to Aurora, accidentally towing Charlie with her.

Aurora didn't even bother to stop as she pushed her detention slip into Molly's hands. She walked into the classroom as though nothing had happened.

"Welcome back! I hope you all have your essays ready for inspection!" Professor Longbottom said as the first student entered.

"Shit," Aurora cursed. She'd completely forgotten about that. She had done the first piece of homework and then forgotten about the rest, in fact, she couldn't even remember when the class had been assigned it.

"Please put them on the side table as you come in, so no-one loses theirs before I can collect them up."

Aurora sighed and dumped her bag underneath the long desk that took up most of the space in the classroom. She didn't need an aptitude in Divination to predict her second detention of the day.

* * *

"So, three detentions in one day?" Elliot said as Aurora sat down next to him after dinner.

"Yup. Do I win yet, or do I have to get five in a day for that?"

Elliot laughed. "Alright, so you got one from Lupin, although I could hardly call that a detention," Aurora smacked his arm, "Ow, that was uncalled for!"

"Was not!"

"Was too! Still, you got one from Longbottom for not doing your homework and when did you get the third?"

"Post Divination, I told Jason to go fuck himself and Professor Smith overheard."

"Just that? I thought she was fairly lenient."

"Me too, but the gestures that went with it were fairly crude, so I guess I had it coming."

"Oh, Aurora, whatever am I going to do with you?"

"Send me to bed? I don't know. I don't suppose you've seen my cardigan, have you? I don't know where I put it after taking it off this morning."

"Check lost and found tomorrow. If there's a medium Slytherin sweater, I call dibs."

"Damn. Alright. Do you want to play snap or something?"

"I've got Alchemy work to do."

Aurora sighed. Elliot was constantly working. He liked to work, unlike Aurora and Tessa. "Tosser."

"Well, I must say I do get off a lot…"

Aurora gave him her 'bitch, please' look and he stopped speaking.

"So, I was thinking that we haven't had a party in a while…" Aurora said after a couple of moments of silence.

"When, where, who, how, etcetera?"

"Well, I was hoping for this weekend at the usual time. I was thinking, Room of Requirement, Slytherins, a couple of Hufflepuffs and maybe a few Gryffindors."

"Alright. I'll chat to Xand and see what we can do. You sort out getting the venue free, and getting all the food and drink. For the love of all things sane, if you want Molly to know so she can stock up, warn her now."

"Okay, I might chat to her later. I was thinking just get everyone drunk to get them back into the swing of things, but maybe." However, Aurora had already considered this and found the idea stupid. It was her party and she was helping to plan it. "You can do inviting and should Xand be on music?"

"Yeah, I think he's been dying to make me listen to the new set list he's created. I'll tell him that I'll listen and if it's good enough then he can play."

"Great. I have to go and check on Lily now, I'll be back in anywhere between ten minutes to two hours."

"See you later, yeah?"

"Yeah. See you."

* * *

"Morning!" Aurora said as she stepped into Professor Lupin's empty classroom.

"You always do that, Aurora. You're so irreverent to the time of day."

"I suppose it's my duty to be, if no-one else will."

"Alright. James left you this," Teddy handed her a sheet of paper; "I don't suppose you can get that done in under an hour?"

Aurora looked at it. The task would barely take her fifteen minutes. "Of course, of course. It's piss easy."

Several minutes after Aurora had settled down, Teddy began talking.

"So, I heard you and Charlie split."

"Yeah," Aurora muttered distractedly, "He was being… annoying."

"Annoying, as in, sleeping with your friend?"

Aurora sighed. "Yes, that type of annoying. Do you want me talking or doing my work, because I can't do both at the same time."

"Alright, alright. Do your work and we'll talk later."

* * *

Half a pot of ink and two quills later, Aurora turned over her messy piece of parchment to Teddy.

"Not bad. The spelling could do with some work though."

"I do two sides of an average roll of parchment in ten minutes and you whine about the spelling?"

"Oh shush," Teddy said quietly, standing up and pressing his lips on hers. Her hand relocated to tangle in his hair as his un-tucked her shirt from the waistline of her skirt. His hand slipped underneath the thin cotton and began to trace the length of her spine as Aurora took the time to unbutton his shirt. The tattoo of a Hungarian Horntail woke up and shifted a little across Teddy's collarbone.

"I feel that you're a little overdressed now," he joked as Aurora quickly dealt with his belt.

"You're in charge of that part," Aurora said between kisses.

"Oh am I now?" Teddy smiled and tugged off Aurora's tie and began to work at the buttons of her shirt. She pulled it off and tossed it to the side when Teddy's attention moved to her skirt. Not wearing tights today had been a very, very good idea.

* * *

"Aurora?" Elliot called as he watched her try to sneak back to her dorm room.

"Yeah?" She replied as she turned to face him.

"How was detention? You got out of that one fairly quickly. Also, Professor Swan came down to give this to you." He handed Aurora a letter and smiled.

"It was piss easy work. And thanks." Aurora skimmed over the letter.

_Dear Aurora, _

_I heard in the staff room that you got three detentions in a day? I must commend you for that; the most I've ever managed was two in forty-eight hours. Still, I convinced Professor Smith to 'pass the reins' of your detention over to me. I hope you don't mind paying it back by helping me with my second class of first years on Monday? _

_Cheers, Nate. _

Aurora smiled, re-folded the letter, smiled and tucked it into her blazer pocket.

"How's the planning going for tomorrow?"

"It's going great, actually. Xander's music is so good I think I got a boner."

Aurora laughed, "Really?"

"Yeah. It was all running smoothly until I had a little hiccup. Should I invite Charlie and Tessa?"

Aurora hesitated and shut her eyes for a moment. Was it worth it? Her Inner Eye was flipping her mind's eye into running double vision: one version of the party with them and one without. Two scenes, side by side. Aurora opened her eyes and thought for a moment longer.

"Fuck it. Why not? You don't need my permission. Invite who you want."

"Well… thanks, I suppose."

"No problem sweetheart. I'll see you later, yeah?" She leant forward and pecked Elliot on the cheek before flitting off to go back to bed.

* * *

A/N: Prequel plans are going a-okay.  
Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter universe. My OC's and the plot are the only things I can take any form of credit for.

**reviews, mes cheries: **

PaigeD6 - ty sugarmuffin xoxo

alicejs x - Awh, thank you! Hopefully this chapter will do until my exams are over!


	10. player

player

"but you've got nothing left," - die tonight, live forever, innerpartysystem.

Aurora folded her arms as the door to the Room of Requirement cracked open. She swivelled around to face the apprehenders and folded her arms when she recognised the shoulder.

"Elliot! It's great to see you!" Charlie said as he strolled over to his Quidditch buddy, ignoring Aurora and Lorcan.

Aurora pouted momentarily but addressed Elliot before he and Charlie began an in-depth conversation on training, "Elliot, I'm going to fetch Lily."

"I thought we said no to anyone under fifth year?"

"Sweetie, you know my opinion on rules." Aurora sauntered out and disregarded Tessa clutching onto Charlie's arm.

After speed-walking along several barren corridors, Aurora slowed down her pace and rounded a corner into a busy hallway. She walked past as the crowd parted into two for her. She spotted Scorpius bickering with two redheads and a dark-haired boy.

"What do we have here?" She said as she sidled in to Scorpius' defence, or attack if it was required. With Rose Weasley, anything was possible. Rose stood next to her cousin Fred, while Lily tried to settle the peace.

"Your input isn't needed here, Bianchi," Rose snapped.

Aurora smiled. "All the more reason for me to get involved, darling Rosebud. Plus, that question wasn't directed to you. How inconsiderate of you to answer someone else's question," She made a 'tsk' sound with her tongue. "So, what's happened here, Fred?"

Fred flushed a little but choked out a somewhat comprehensible answer, "Rose is accusing Scorpius of copying off her in their Astronomy test."

"Ah, the old 'You did that!' and 'No I didn't' arguments? Ah, young love!"

Fred laughed weakly at the face Rose made.

"Never fear, I know how to settle this one. Lily, break out the dancing shoes! We must celebrate!"

Lily laughed and nodded, "I'll see you up there? Can Scor come?"

"Of course he is, don't be daft. Tell El I'll be up in ten."

"See you!" Lily smiled and dashed off down the corridor to the staircases.

"So, now we're on level playing fields, what happened?" Aurora asked, putting a protective hand on Scorpius' shoulder.

"We had an Astronomy mock paper in class for a few of our most recent classes. This," Scorpius gestured towards Rose, "has decided that I cheated because I got an O while she only got an A."

Aurora laughed. "OWL papers have a choice of questions. How are you even sure that he cheated?"

"No-one gets full marks on every test they have in Astronomy!" Rose guffawed.

"And suppose I was to say that no-one gets full marks on every Transfiguration test?" Scorpius hissed.

Aurora laughed again.

"Oh, shut up you slut!" Rose screamed. The noisy hallway died and everyone turned to look at Rose, who turned redder than blood. The tension ripped away at the four until Aurora began laughing again.

"That's cute, sweetheart. Do you really think that a couple of words will hurt? I must commend you on saying it to my face, although I hope you like having every single Slytherin against you. Words spread quickly when you've got a house like yours. Although all that bravery makes you incredibly, incredibly stupid." Aurora grabbed Scorpius' hand and pulled him away from Rose and her cousin. "And next time, try not to shame me for doing what I like, yeah?" She called from the other end of the corridor.

* * *

"I really don't know what that was all about. She's so rude to you, but the rest of the time she's ridiculously polite."

"Scor, there's no reason you should be apologising. I don't even need an apology out of her, for fucks sake. The look on her face was enough, for now."

"Provided you're alright, that's all that matters."

"Yeah, whatever," Aurora mumbled. "Suit up, or whatever it is you wear to parties. You're not avoiding tonight."

"But I've got patrol tonight, with Rose!"

"No you don't. I convinced Sophia to change you with that dorky Ravenclaw that's got a crush on Rose for today. She'll have a dolphin of a time."

"Don't you mean a whale of a time?"

Aurora raised a dismissive hand, "Whatever. Go and get changed. Meet me up here in twenty minutes."

Scorpius smiled and slipped off to the boys dormitories, while Aurora returned to hers.

* * *

"Am I going to be beating boys away from you with a stick or something?" Scorpius joked as he met Aurora in the common room, twenty-one minutes later.

"Well, that was the aim," she replied, twirling around. "Shall we?"

Aurora and Scorpius walked up to the Room of Requirement in a mutual silence. They received several odd glances as they passed large crowds, the news of what had happened earlier had spread like fire in a dry forest.

"After you," Scorpius said as he opened the door to the Room of Requirement for Aurora.

"Well thank you," she smiled in return and stepped through. It was barely eight and the room was dead, except for a handful of Slytherins that had arrived early to get on Aurora's good side by aiding in the party efforts.

"No, move it three paces right," Elliot called out. "Ah, Aurora. You look lovely."

"Let's not make this into some fancy schmancy pureblooded do, Ells." She said as she patted him on the arm. "And make it two paces to the left." She added.

Elliot's eye roll didn't go unnoticed. "Let's just get this party dealt with, yeah?"

* * *

Aurora was three minutes and fifty-eight seconds late to Muggle Studies and James had to deny the fact he had counted the seconds as she entered. She walked in that way that meant no-one should give her shit: her posture was impeccable and everything about her screamed 'Get in my way and I'll slice you like bacon'. She frowned for a moment at her seat being taken by Rachel but threw her bag down next to James. James had noticed Teddy hadn't adjusted the register since Aurora had entered; after all, he had looked up.

James gingerly slid the list of things across the table towards her and she flounced up to grab a textbook. His pretence at not knowing about the party was working well; Aurora didn't seem like she was planning on mentioning it and he hadn't brought it up.

"Did you draw the short straw or something?"

James tittered, "I guess. Do you want to help me with this or do you want to work on getting everything together?"

"Can't I just nap?"

"Not really. Unless you want another detention."

"My third eye is telling me I'm not going to get one today. I had a late night, cut me some slack."

"Your third eye might need an eye test then," Professor Lupin said, "Can I have a word?"

The rolling of Aurora's eyes did not go unnoticed by her table. "Fine," She sighed as she stood up. She followed Teddy to his office and let him shut the door and enchant the four walls before she spoke.

"Are you ever going to tell James we fucked on his half of the table?"

Teddy laughed. "Maybe one day. Once I'm out of this shithole job. What happened over the weekend?"

"Party, initiation. The usual."

Teddy had frequently wondered why he continued his illicit affair with Aurora. He had been dating Victoire for what felt like decades and he hated every second of it and this just seemed like a way of escaping it all. He had once considered all the reasons why it continued. The first was the thrill of it all. The chance of getting caught was enough for her, at least. Then there was the sex part of it all. Over the holidays, or whenever he could be bothered to visit Victoire, the whole matter was positively Victorian. Three minutes in the dark and then no contact for the next three days. The thought of Aurora's skin touching his was enough to make his face burn.

"Ah. Is Charlie a problem?"

"Not so much Charlie. More Tessa, if I'm going to be honest, which I almost always am."

Teddy laughed again, "I know you're always honest. Listen, I don't know when you're free next and I'd hate to have to give you another detention."

Aurora leant up and kissed him on the lips. "I'd say right now, but you have a class to watch. Break is too short and you have things to do at lunch, don't you?"

Teddy hesitated for a moment but nodded. He did have a ton of marking to do for his third years.

"How about you do your marking," she whispered into his ear, "by tomorrow lunch and we'll see?"

"Sounds like a deal."

Aurora smiled and placed a hand on his arm, unmistakeably gentle. Every muscle in Teddy's body pulled taut at her touch and her lips curved into a smile. Her touch might've been soft and mild in that moment but he knew this was the calm before the storm.

"I'm going to make the wild assumption that I don't have a detention and that it's okay for me to go back out and ignore any work I have to do."

"Not so quickly, Aurora," Teddy leant on the door and blocked her path, "If you don't do anything for this I'll have to fail you. And you know how I'd hate that. Is it alright if I ask James to dictate things for you to write? That way I can pass you."

Aurora hesitated. "Can I do some of it outside of class?"

"Provided you do it," Teddy said, waving his hands in oddly calming gestures.

"Alright," she half-smiled, "I'll try."

* * *

"James, stay behind for a moment would you?" Teddy asked his god-brother as the rest of the class filed out.

James turned and glanced at him, as did Aurora for a fleeting second. Her hesitation was evident as she lingered by the door.

"Don't you have a lesson you need to get to, Aurora?" Teddy asked.

"Divination. I don't want to go."

"Wait here, I just need to have a quick chat with James and then I'll walk you over there."

She nodded and Teddy took his god-brother into the very same room he had been in with Aurora less than an hour ago. His heart shuddered at the memory as he shut the door with a soft shove.

"Listen, I need you to make up a list of things you don't want to do and I'll see if I can get Aurora to do them."

James frowned, "She'd never do the boring things."

Teddy clucked his tongue. "Don't worry; I'll coerce her into doing it somehow."

James' heart skittered like a nervous horse. So many questions flew through his mind: how, for a start, but he ignored them and eventually managed to kick some words out into a sentence. "I'll take your word for it. Can I bring it to you at lunch?"

"Sure, sure. I should be in here, I've got a ton of marking to do. If I'm not, just drop it on my desk and I'll let you know when I've got it."

"Alright, thanks."

Aurora looked up from Teddy's teaching desk when the door to his office opened and James strolled out. He shot a curious glance towards her while she returned a deathly glare. She had taken up to exploring Teddy's desk in her seamless boredom and had found many little trinkets of information that could prove to have future use to her.

The main thing she had noted, almost as soon as the two boys had gone into the office was the image inside an ornate silver picture frame. Her nimble fingers had disembowelled the frame in seconds and her eyes had just finished perusing the neat handwriting on the back when the door had reopened. She hastily reassembled the frame and returned it to its exact position amongst the dust.

"Come on, Aurora. I'll take you to Divination," Teddy said as he reached the desk.

"She's pretty." Aurora said without thinking.

Teddy bit the inside of his cheek, searching for the most appropriate thing to say. It took a while, as he had never been caught in a situation like this before. It was one thing to fuck someone eight years younger than himself while he was her teacher; it was another for her to compliment the woman he was cheating on.

"She's as pretty as ice, Aurora. She glitters in the sunlight and she's bitterly cold when you touch her."

Teddy wasn't sure quite why, but Aurora half-smiled. "And what about me, Mr Lupin? What am I like in your mind?"

Teddy smiled back. It was hard to resist her cloying tones but he figured out an answer. "Electricity." He expected a request for him to explain, but she hadn't and that irritated him.

They walked together in total silence. Words seemed to catch in Aurora's throat as they walked past Charlie's look of complete and utter distaste but she was hasty to swallow them away.

"All in one piece. I'll see you in class tomorrow, Aurora." Teddy said as he patted her arm. He turned and left, leaving Aurora with the gaggle of girls that she shared Divination with. She ignored the others and entered the class early, despite the third years still being in the class.

"Morning Professor."

"Ah, Aurora. Come and show these two how it's done." Professor Trelawney beckoned Aurora over and handed her the empty cup of tea leaves.

"Whichever one of you this is for, there's someone around you who doesn't deserve your trust and if you continue to trust them then you're going to lose out on a lot of opportunities."

Aurora put the cup down on the table as the second girl thrust the cup she was holding at her. "There's a wolf here, you should expect to be betrayed by somebody and the spider web shows that it might catch you in a trap," Aurora put the cup down and turned to Professor Trelawney. "Tell me we're not doing something that morbid today."

* * *

A/N: Who has two thumbs and is a total slacker? Me, it's nice to meet you.  
Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter universe. My OC's and the plot are the only things I can take any form of credit for.


	11. lips

lips

"i don't want to be young, but i don't want to die," –float, ko ko.

Freya Fitzgerald dropped her teacup at Aurora's offer of being partners in Divination class. She was hasty to fix it with a spell and to accept the offer. Aurora smirked at Tessa, who must've been expecting their Divination partnership to continue and had sat at their usual table.

"Start with your tea leaves and then I think we should do some work on our fire-omens and if we have enough time, cool down with a nice session with the tarot cards," Professor Trelawney said from her own table at the front of the class.

Aurora prepared two teacups as she tried in vain to engage in conversation with the incredibly dull Ravenclaw she had chosen as her new partner.

"So, what do you think of this class?"

"I think it's all a pile of centaur poop, my readings are always off and so were my partners. All of them. They're all so boring, don't you agree? No-one else gets it, obviously."

Aurora's eyes almost rolled back into her head in frustration. "Yeah. No-one else gets it," she snapped. Her voice lowered as she hissed out, almost inaudibly: "Drink your bloody tea or so help me I will spill it over your lap."

It was quite clear that Freya hadn't heard, but she downed her tea almost automatically. Aurora ignored the trapdoor opening and smiled in satisfaction at the tears that must've burned Freya's eyes after she had scorched throat.

"Professor Trelawney?" The class looked up. No-one in the class really referred to Professor Trelawney by her full title. Aurora's jaw dropped for a moment, although she was quick to force it back up.

"Yes, Charles?" Professor Trelawney's airy voice was back into play after her deathly serious moment at the beginning of the lesson.

"Professor Swan would like to request a reading on tomorrow night's star and planetary alignment."

Aurora smiled with sadistic pleasure as Charlie's whole body tightened at the sight of Aurora. She sipped at her tea as though she had all the time in the world and waited for her teacher to give him a response.

"I think I shall get a student to do it. Is that okay?"

"I believe he would prefer for it to be done by you, Professor." Charlie said sternly, sliding a glance over at Aurora.

"Oh, my readings are always off when it comes to the night's sky. My eyesight has always been like this but I suppose being blessed with the Inner Eye comes with negative side effects."

Charlie nodded and chewed at the inside of his cheek. "What shall I tell him?"

Professor Trelawney considered the options for a moment before beckoning Aurora up, "Aurora, come over here."

Aurora got up, feigning hesitance and deliberately dragged her heels into the ground, but maintained the charm that always won over teachers, "Yes, Professor?"

"Professor – Swan was it? Yes, Professor Swan is requesting a reading of the planets and stars and I'm assuming various interpretations for tomorrow night. As you and the rest of the class are aware, my eyes haven't been too good as of late, I would like it if you could do this for me."

"Oh, of course, provided that Professor Swan is alright with it, no problem." Aurora turned to Charlie and pushed out a smile. "Tell him that if he needs to discuss the matter further, he can talk about it with me when I have Astrology next lesson."

* * *

"Thanks for helping me in today's lesson, Aurora. You're so good at Divination, how do you do it?" Freya said; her endless flattering had done nothing to help Aurora's atrociously bad mood throughout the lesson.

"Family history. See you next lesson," Aurora smiled and branched off from Freya and headed to Astrology. Aurora had practically memorised Freya's timetable in the past lesson, all she'd garbled on about herself. When she wasn't complaining about her own problems, she was complimenting Aurora. Aurora had found the whole routine bothersome and boring. At least she hadn't taken Arithmancy.

* * *

"So, Charles was kind enough to inform me that you'll be doing the reading for tomorrow?" Nate asked as Aurora entered.

"Your sources are correct, monsieur. I'd do it early for you, but I hate to rush what can only be fate."

Nate blushed and stared down at his brown loafers. He wasn't entirely certain for the reasoning behind his burning cheeks but in a way, he liked it. She moved to her seat at the back while he flushed like a schoolgirl and the class waited for him to revise how a star died.

* * *

Professor Swan had a hard time trying to explain everything to the class. They weren't the most responsive, even Aurora, who was the loudest out of the twenty-one that took the class, was silent for most of the hour. She spoke only to insult James, who Nate had noticed looked at her a lot and to shout something in French that he didn't quite understand.

Nate had also noticed that whenever Aurora was in a bad mood, she snapped at people in different languages. He wasn't sure what she was saying, but the tone she used made him think that she was swearing.

"_T'es vraiment trop con_," She hissed. The person that the insult was intended for obviously didn't hear, but it was as though the words were only for Nate's ears.

The class finished and unlike usual, Aurora wasn't the first to leave. She loitered behind after everyone else had abandoned ship and waited for Nate to realise she was still in the classroom.

"Aurora, what's up?"

She stepped towards the desk after glancing towards the door. "I need help with something."

Nate looked at her, suddenly curious. "With what?"

Aurora chewed on her lip. "My Herbology work."

"Shouldn't you go to Professor Longbottom about this?"

Aurora rubbed the back of her neck as she took her turn to stutter out a reply, "I don't understand when he tries explaining to me."

"Oh. When's your work due?"

"Tuesday next week."

"When are you available?"

"Whenever it suits you."

"How does Wednesday period four sound?"

Aurora thought about it for a moment but quickly decided what to do. "Sure, sure. Do you want to meet here or in the Library?"

"We'll meet here and then we can go up to the library if needs be. I'll see you later, Aurora."

* * *

Aurora wasn't even sure what she was going to do with the lighter any more. She had pushed away her dependency on cigarettes as though it was worth nothing and now she had a lighter that seemed useless in the wizarding world.

Aurora had found herself aimlessly looping around the fourth floor corridors and when she reached the stairwell for the ninth time, she stepped down and walked off to her and Charlie's old spot.

She was left wondering what she could do to really slap Tessa and Charlie in the face. She thought about everything she had wanted to do at Hogwarts. She hadn't achieved a single one of them. She considered how she was going to make one of them, just one out of a million, reality. The one she was thinking of would require a trip to Hogsmeade to begin with, although she probably couldn't go during a school visit. The place would be crowded with kids who all thought she was rebellious or something stupid.

* * *

After a free period of trying to understand what the hell her Herbology textbook was saying, Aurora headed down to her lesson in the greenhouses. Professor Longbottom gathered them around the table and introduced a new plant to them all.

"How many of you can recognise this particular plant?" He hefted a large plant up onto the desk in front of him after he had handed out Perspex goggles to his students.

There were several moments of silence as the students tried to figure out what the plants name was.

"Venomous Tentacula," Aurora whispered curiously.

"What was that?" Professor Longbottom asked loudly.

After clearing her throat, Aurora spoke again, "Venomous Tentacula?"

"Correct. Five points for Slytherin and another five for being the first NEWT student to recognise it."

Aurora smiled and let Professor Longbottom explain all about her favourite plant. James paid very little attention to what his teacher was saying, but instead stared in awe at the way Aurora's eyes shone at the sight of the plant.

"I know you all don't like it when I pair you up, but I think that if some of you work with some others," Professor Longbottom looked pointedly at James, Fred and Louis, "You won't get any work done. Instead, I've made a provisional list for partners for the rest of the year and I'll be swapping a few of you around to see who works best with whom. If you wouldn't mind lining up outside the class so I can call you in."

Aurora followed the rest of the class outside and waited as her twenty-one other classmates were called in, two at a time. She was left outside with Duncan Lane, the last person she wanted to work with. Duncan was notorious for bossing people around and generally being a pain in the arse.

"Aurora, Duncan. You're working together."

Duncan surveyed Aurora and it was obvious that he hadn't intended for his nose to crinkle up in distaste.

It took four minutes of working with Duncan for Aurora to finally reach toleration point and she tipped soil over his head, muddying his starched white shirt and flat-ironed Ravenclaw tie.

She shrugged her shoulders and smiled innocently. "Oops. Guess you didn't see that one coming; did you?"

Duncan turned a vivid shade of purple and complained to Professor Longbottom. "Sir! Aurora poured dirt all over me!"

Aurora decided to use Professor Longbottom's obvious dislike of Duncan to her favour. "You know how he is, Professor. I just couldn't help it."

For a moment, it looked as though Neville Longbottom was going to smile. "Go and sort out your dirt problem, Mr Lane and I'll have sorted out Aurora over here." He frowned and turned his gaze onto Aurora.

"What happened, Aurora?"

"He insulted me numerous times in the space of several seconds. You're lucky I didn't crush the willpower out of him."

"I think you did a fairly good job. James, come over here."

James trotted over obediently. Anything he did wrong in Herbology always got reported back to his parents.

"James, you're working with Aurora now. Tell Trudy that she's working with Duncan when he gets back."

* * *

Aurora spent the rest of the lesson in silence, which James considered to be incredibly out of character. Usually she was having a mud fight or laughing or chatting, but today she was silent. Well, not totally silent. She seemed to be singing something under her breath that sounded remarkably like the countries of the world.

"Norway and Sweden and Iceland and Finland and Germany now one piece," She half-whispered, half-sung as she gutted the pods of the plant they had been given.

"So, Aurora, how's your Divination?" James asked as she slapped his hand away from the seedlings tray.

"Fine, thanks." She said, closing the conversation for another fifteen minutes, until she had to speak to stop him from putting his hand into the seedling tray, "Hey, if you don't want your fingers, by all means, shove them right in there. I'm sure these seedlings want a little snack, you idiot."

In the end, it was Aurora's perseverance at getting the tray filled up that meant that they finished first. She had barely let James touch it as she figured out the correct way to plant them. She had decided that she liked the Venomous Tentacula the first time it had tried to bite Duncan's hand off. She loved it even more now that it was catching half the class out.

"Ten points to Slytherin and Gryffindor for completing the task!" Professor Longbottom announced as Aurora slid her tray of seedlings onto the chrome trolley at the front of the class. She shot a smug smile back towards James and returned to write up the practical she had just performed.

* * *

Dinner was mediocre, as usual. Molly, Elliot and Lysander sat with Aurora and they ate in a mutual silence. Molly nodded when Charlie sat down and began speaking with Elliot about Quidditch practice.

"So, I was really thinking that I needed to go to Hogsmeade and I don't think that we've had our first official outing yet, have we?" Aurora said, hoping that Charlie would catch on.

"Yeah, I know. I need to slip out and head over to London to talk with someone and it's such a shame we haven't had the opportunity to get out yet. I even did all of my outstanding coursework!" Molly's voice dropped to an undertone and there was a clatter as Charlie put his elbow in a bowl of jelly in an attempt to hear the girls' conversation.

"Oh, Charles. What a pleasure it is to see you," Aurora said, in a tone that made it sound like she was quite the contrary. "Do mop yourself up. You've wasted all that jelly for no good reason!"

Molly giggled as Aurora tossed a napkin in her ex-boyfriend's direction.

* * *

**A/N:** So, I rewrote the prologue. It's a little bit longer and it's got a little bit more detail and I'm happier with it than I was with the previous one. Still, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. There's only 16 more (planned) chapters to go, so things might get a little more intense soon! I've also got a lot of work coming up for my art and drama GCSE's, so updates may be sparse for a few weeks! Still, reviews are appreciated and if I haven't updated in a month I'll reply to your review via PM.  
Forgot to translate the French in here! So: _'T'es vraiment trop con' _means '_You're really fucking stupid_'

Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter universe. My OC's and the plot are the only things I can take any form of credit for.


	12. iridescent

iridescent

"kept me on your arm boy, so you weren't left alone," – boyfriend (cover), marina and the diamonds.

Aurora's weekend began with a shower. It might've been half past six in the morning, but the news of a Hogsmeade trip had been posted the previous evening and Aurora was excited to be going. There were times when she felt that the castles walls were enclosing in on her and throttling the will to remain awake out of her.

"Aurora!" Molly shouted as she entered the steamed up bathroom. "Are you coming with me today?"

Aurora paused, mid shower dance and shouted back, "No, I've got to do this one alone, if you don't mind. It'll look suspicious, us going into the same place, at the time and not leaving."

"Gotcha. Chat you later." Molly said as she left.

Aurora continued her shower for another fifteen minutes before getting out. She patted her skin dry and dressed quickly in the still steamy bathroom. She tossed her soggy towel at the laundry basket and dried her hair with one of the select spells she could perform correctly.

She dressed quickly in the still humid bathroom and returned her pyjamas to her neatly-made bed.

"Aurora?"

Aurora almost knocked herself out on her bed by leaping three foot into the air. "Oh my – Lily, stop doing that!"

Lily apologised as she stood up from Tessa's bed. "I was wondering if you were going into town with anyone in particular today."

"Nope. I do have a couple of errands to run though. How would you feel about meeting my mother?"

* * *

Aurora and Lily stood together in the entrance of Hogwarts while they waited for Professor Longbottom to register who was going out. He gave a quick, disapproving glance at the comparing lengths of Aurora's skirt versus her too-large coat but failed to comment on it.

"Going for the weekend, are you?" He joked as she scribbled her name down.

"What can I say, you caught me," she sniped back sarcastically. "If you'll kindly excuse Lily and myself as I must show my companion around Hogsmeade!"

Professor Longbottom quirked an eyebrow, but said nothing more. Aurora looped her arm with Lily's and marched off towards Hogsmeade.

"What did you mean when you asked about me meeting your mum?" Lily hissed once they were out of an adult's earshot.

"Let me just say, I have a friend who will be more than accommodating when it comes to travel and you're going to need to be a little bit reckless with this one."

"What do you mean?"

"Let's just say," Aurora said as she pulled Lily off the pathway and behind a tree. "I'm not going to be showing you around Hogsmeade, exactly."

"Aurora…"

"Our detour is nothing major; we're just taking a quick trip to London."

"Nothing _major_?" Lily repeated. "_London?_"

"You sound as though you're interested. Do you want to come along?"

Lily hardly considered it. "I suppose so, only provided there's a one hundred per cent chance of me not getting caught."

"Well if you keep on talking at that level, then someone's going to find out; aren't they!" Aurora grinned and looped her arm through Lily's again. "Come on, before anyone asks us to go to the Three Broomsticks with them or something stupid!"

* * *

James watched as his bright-haired little sister emerged from behind a tree with Aurora. His heart skipped as he saw Aurora check behind herself.

"Fred, I'm gonna go on ahead, I'll meet you at your dad's place."

Fred stared at his best friend and followed his line of sight. "Alright. Don't forget that she's just trouble, mate."

"Sure, whatever you say," James muttered dismissively as he patted Fred's shoulder without looking.

"That boy is really in it, isn't he?" Louis joked as James half-jogged after Lily and Aurora.

"Yep. He's never going to realise she'll never date him in a thousand years."

"Strike that, Fred. She'd never even consider him worthy of her time in a million centuries."

* * *

Aurora fiddled with her scarf as she and Lily walked the rest of the way into Hogsmeade.

"Hey Aurora."

Aurora turned to her right side to see Lily's older brother walking beside her.

"How can I help you, Ginge?"

"I was wondering if you were free for a drink in the Three Broomsticks or something?"

Lily and Aurora glanced at each other and giggled, as though sharing a private joke.

"Not today, James. I've got a whole list of things to do and having a _butterbeer _with _you_ is not one of them." She laughed derisively.

* * *

"Merlin, your brother is annoying," Aurora uttered as she ducked into Spintwitches, a sports supply shop, "Morning Tony," She said towards the bored looking clerk.

"Morning Aurora. You looking to floo?"

"Yep, if you don't mind."

"No problems. You know where you're going."

"Cheers. See you tomorrow."

"See you."

Aurora led Lily through racks of neon gym shorts and nylon running jackets. Her fingers lingered as she brushed over them and she smiled a little at the thought of finally having the options to achieve something that would mean something to her.

* * *

Albus had watched Aurora rebuff his older brother as she skipped off with his little sister. He was the only one out of his siblings who didn't really interact with Aurora on a regular basis. She'd smile knowingly at him in the corridors on occasion, but that was it. He sort of wished he could stop and have a conversation with her; however Louis had warned him before the summer holidays that she was a bad thing that he needed to avoid. That was what first made him fancy her.

It was a series of things after that that really established his crush on Aurora and every single one of them was simply titled 'Aurora Bianchi'.

* * *

The fireplace spat Aurora out onto the threadbare rug in Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment. She righted herself and brushed the soot under the rug while she waited for Lily to come through. It had been a mistake for Aurora to go first, but at least she had implied that she trusted Lily and that she knew she'd follow after her.  
And Lily did. Aurora caught her as she tripped and fussed over her by sorting out anything that had become displaced mid-Floo.

"So, your mum?"

"We're meeting her at Rosa Lee Teabag later. She's agreed to talk to me but she thinks that we're allowed to be this far away from Hogwarts."

"Your mum has no idea you're supposed to be in Hogsmeade?!"

"Shh, or someone'll hear you! Just trust me on this one, okay? You just need to do me a favour and play the convincing part of a sixth year."

"What?" Lily all but screamed, "I'm nothing like a sixth year! I can barely pass for a third year!"

"Oh, calm down. Stand up straight, roll your shoulders back and behave a little bit mature. Nothing big, sweetie."

Lily mumbled something indistinguishable to herself, but did not argue further with Aurora.

"Come on, I've got to show you something before we meet my mother."

* * *

Aurora pushed the door open with her body weight as she entered the flat. The place wasn't particularly old and she'd managed to swipe it as a bargain over the summer. Since she'd been with Charlie then and he'd enchanted the place so the door only opened for one of them despite their impending break up.

"This place is so cool! I wish I could live here with you!" Lily cried out.

"Sh, grasshopper. I still live in Italy with my mum, remember? This is just somewhere for me to come to when I need to clear my mind during a Hogsmeade trip."

Lily shrugged it off as she explored the flat. It looked like page three out of a furniture catalogue. Everything was impeccably neat and tidy and the only thing that really distanced Aurora and Lily from the room was the thin layer of dust covering everything.

"You should really employ somebody to keep this place clean, Aurora."

Aurora laughed it off. She didn't want to point out to Lily how infrequent the Hogsmeade trips were, or how Charlie probably wouldn't want either of them to even be there.

"We should head back to Rosa Lee's, Lil. Come on."

Lily and Aurora left the flat and Aurora made sure there were no obvious signs people being in. They walked together in a contemplative silence until they reached Rosa Lee's.

"Miss Bianchi? Your mamma's waitin' for yer in the back."

"Thank you," Aurora smiled at the server. She had turned a blind eye to Aurora and Lily being out of school, although that was probably due to one of her eyes being glass.

Aurora and Lily stepped out in the courtyard at the back of the shop as a sharp gust of wind tugged at their hair and played with their coat hems.

"Morning mama," Aurora said as she brushed her hair behind her ear.

"Good morning Marina. How's your schooling going?"

Lily's first impression of Ms Bianchi was that she was a kind and a well-to-do woman who didn't need anybody but herself and her Seer abilities. Her layers of thin and wispy materials coalesced to form a barrier against the cold and her long black hair played along with it.

"I've been having some problems with Professor Longbottom in Herbology again and I've had a new Astrology professor."

"Oh, that's lovely. Such a shame you haven't been let out lately. I recieved a very battered owl a couple of weeks back to tell me that you had gotten yourself into a rather large pickle - three detentions in one day? What is this I'm hearing?"

"It's nothing Mama. I was having a bad day and things got out of hand."

"You know it's not good for you, Marina. Have you been having those nightmares again?"

Lily watched as Aurora backtracked, "No, no Mama. I'm fine. I had Divination before and I just couldn't stop it and I'm sick of it all. It hurts."

"I know, but soon you'll be free and you won't have to worry about it. I'll teach you how to control your powers and then you could even join me in the business!"

Aurora half-smiled. It was then that Lily realised why Aurora kicked up so much trouble: her mother didn't actually care about her grades in school. The knowledge that she was a natural Seer had been ever-present throughout her life. That was what mattered to Ms Bianchi.

"I'm sorry dear, I don't know you. Marina, why didn't you introduce me to your friend?"

"Mama, this is Lily Potter. She's a good friend of mine and a housemate."

"What year are you in then, Lily?"

"Oh, I'm in my third year at Hogwarts." Lily didn't feel the need to go through the processed tape with Ms Bianchi, so when she asked 'How are you finding it?', Lily told the truth, "Personally, I don't like it. I don't like school. It's tiring and all I want to do is sleep. Sure - Hogwarts is great and all but I have to share a class with thirty other students who all think I'm evil because I'm a Potter and I was sorted into Slytherin."

"Yes, the Potters! I hadn't made the connection, my dear. Am I right when I say you have two older brothers?"

"Yes, Albus and James. Albus is a fifth year Hufflepuff and James is sixth year Gryffindor."

"Mama," Aurora interjected, "I'm sorry, do you mind if I go to the toilet?"

"Go," her mother said with a dismissive wave of her hand.

Aurora smiled as she stood up and quickly scuttled inside.

"So, you're friends with Marina, aren't you Lily?"

Lily nodded. She at least thought they were friends.

"She won't be back for a bit because she's probably gone out for a smoke so why don't you tell me everything that's happened to her lately?"

Lily thought, "Well she and Charlie aren't together any more. They split up a little while ago and she's not been particularly responsive lately. I don't know whether she's putting it on or not is the thing. Plus, I've noticed she doesn't smoke as often anymore." Aurora's mothers' eyebrows rose, "She studies now." Lily thought her eyebrows were about to disappear into her hairline, "She has problems understanding written pieces."

"She's been like that since she was a child. Her reading was always below average."

"Oh, there you are dear. That was quick," Aurora's mother said as her daughter sat back down in the wicker chair.

"The toilets in this place aren't pleasant. I hardly wanted to stay for longer than I had to."

Lily noted how formal Aurora was with her mother. It wasn't a particularly amicable relationship and the two seemed to be restraining each other from flying towards Lily's fateful teacup.

When Aurora spoke next, she threw words in Italian at her mother in rapid succession, her accent flawless as her mother threw up her barriers in return.

"Maybe, dearest. I appreciate the use of your native language."

Lily cocked her head. "Native language?"

"Italian is, and always will be the language I first spoke. I learnt it first, then French and then English," Aurora said without so much as looking at her companion. "What do you say, Mama? It would mean me moving past previous obstacles I know you didn't approve of."

"I'll consider it, Marina."

"Mama!" Aurora cried, "You promised! This is barely as ridiculous as my previous grants for access to the funds!"

"Fine, I'll give you a little to get you started and if you haven't wasted all of that, then I'll let you have access to whatever you need."

"How much?" Aurora pressed on, her attention captured.

"I should hope twenty Galleons will be enough to start your ridiculous endeavour."

Aurora strained to keep her face neutral, "Thank you Mama."

"We'll head over to the vault now and go and fetch it for you, bambino."

"Merci beaucoup," Aurora said, smiling graciously.

* * *

Lily thought she'd seen a lot of money when she first entered the Potter vault when she was eight. The Bianchi vault was in a completely new league. The place was on the lowest floor of Gringotts and therefore one of the highest security. Lily could understand why. As if the organised stacks of Galleons weren't enough, antique desks had been organised as though it was a classroom with hat stands holding ornate crowns and decadent necklaces of rubies and sapphires and every single jewel that Lily couldn't put her finger on. She had half expected Aurora to swipe something off of the desk, like an old ring with a large chunk of lapis lazuli clutched in its golden claws or perhaps an extra Galleon or two.

But Aurora didn't.

She lingered in the doorway as Lily admired the sheer amount of wealth in the room instead of entering and following her mother like a begging puppy dog.

* * *

"Adios, Mama," Aurora said as she kissed her mother on the cheek. Ms Bianchi apparated off to another tea shop or perhaps another century - Lily would never know. "Come on Lils, I've got some work to do and it'll be best if you weren't here for that."

"What are you talking about? I can't be here for what?"

"Don't worry. Come on, I'll do it another weekend. For now, I've got a brother of yours to annoy."

* * *

"Butterbeer, Pottsie? I'd've thought you could manage something a little more grown up than that." James looked to his left. Aurora tapped on the wood of the bar with her fingernails and beckoned the young bartender over. "You know they don't let you order Firewhiskey before lunch," He objected. She smiled slyly and pulled the bartender up so she could whisper in his ear without moving from her prime position. She released him and smiled again and he picked up two Firewhiskeys from under the bar. "Thank you, honey." She blew him a burgundy kiss that would later burn.

James followed her swaying hips over to the corner table, where she sat with Lily and a handsome twenty something man. She passed the Firewhiskey off to the man and sat down next to him on the bench before he pulled her up onto his lap.

He could hear Aurora's voice as though it was meant for his ears only, "Cheeky."

James' heart burnt as he smiled despite himself.

* * *

Professor Swan heard about Aurora before he actually saw her that weekend. He was supposed to be monitoring the halls and making sure no first years burnt alive while the rest of the school flocked to Hogsmeade.

"Did you hear about Aurora?" A second year with pigtails sticking awkwardly out of either side of her head whispered to another while they walked down the corridors.

Nate followed out of interest and had no idea where they were really going. The two Gryffindors didn't even notice that he was following for the whole fifteen minutes.

"No, what was it?"

"I heard that she left Hogsmeade and then came back with some twenty year old! She's totally trying to get back at Head Boy, isn't she? I mean why would anybody do something like that?"

"Cady told me that he liked the fact she was still in school! Talk about weird!"

"Totally!" The girls discussed how disgusting it was that she was sixteen (although, of course her birthday was soon – everybody in second year or over knew that fact due to her birthday parties were usually held around this time of year,) and how he was rumoured to be twenty one and how they'd just sort of appeared after she left Spintwitches, having spent an abnormal amount of time in there.

Nate broke away from the two twelve year olds and headed back up to his classroom. There was one particular speck of dust he couldn't get off of the lens of his favourite telescope and it was bugging him.

* * *

Nate dropped his papers as he entered his classroom, "Aurora?" He asked disbelievingly.

She turned around and her dark hair flared at the movement, "Do try and keep a hold of yourself, Professor Swan. There's nothing odd about a student being in a classroom."

Nate scooped up his papers with a simple swish of his wand and sighed as they deposited themselves onto his desk. That was a paperwork disaster waiting to happen.

"No, that wouldn't be unusual if you were Rose Weasley, but you are Aurora Bianchi, primadonna extraordinaire."

Aurora smiled slightly, "You caught me. Rose Weasley using Polyjuice Potion."

Nate smiled back, "So, how can I help you, Aurora? I didn't set homework, if that's what you're here to ask about."

"No, you know I don't do my homework. I just needed some time to myself and I found myself here, of all places. 'Lawners is busy holding some sort of séance in her room. Do you have tea, by any chance?"

Nate had learnt from Professor Lupin that it was better to play along with Aurora's mood swings, "I have lots of types of tea. Any particular kind you'd prefer?"

"Depends, what've you got?"

"Come on up and I'll show you. I can barely pronounce half of these but I like them," he called out from his small kitchen. He held the cupboard door open for her and instead of moving his arm, Aurora ducked under it.

She perused his tea selection and decided on peppermint tea. She plucked a teabag out of the packet and retrieved the sugar from the back of the cupboard.

* * *

**A/N:** If you've even read this far: well done. I'm being forced to use my Mum's laptop because mine won't connect to the internet. Still, I put a chapter up! I'm going to be pushing through with Seeing Clearly once the next chapter of either this or Supernova. I haven't updated that in forever and it's not going to take long to complete.  
I've also got a lot of studying and work to do for my GCSE's that are coming up after Easter (any British school student age 11+ knows of these puppies.) so I'm going to be a bit busy. But after that, I'm all clear! If you really want the next chapter, then a review wouldn't go amiss. ;)

Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter universe. My OC's and the plot are the only things I can take any form of credit for.


	13. finale

finale

"if I can't have you baby, no-one else in this world can," – jealous girl, lana del rey.

Nate had been more than accommodating with Aurora while she fussed about over the mess of his quarters, and he had eventually got a tidy room out of it.

"How do you do this?" She had asked as she picked up a dirty t-shirt from the headboard of his bed.

"Teaching's a taxing job, alright? That's my pyjama top, don't be rude."

"It smells like something crawled up and died in it. Your career, maybe?"

"What was that for?"

"I was led to the conclusion that teaching was the end of one's career. There's not really a large percentage of teachers who go on to explore in the field and leave the teaching profession. Look at Longbottom, for example. He's stuck as Head of Gryffindor because he's been here so long, and hardly anybody likes him."

Nate had to laugh, "I guess I have to agree because I'm not really Professor Longbottom's biggest fan, but that is incredibly rude of you."

"Whatever. If you don't mind my inquiry, what are we studying next lesson?"

"I have no idea. My first years are keeping me on my toes."

"Which class?"

"Ravenclaws and Slytherins. Sometimes I wonder why I took this position. It's hell."

"What are the Slytherins doing?" Aurora asked sharply, "I can always have a chat with anybody if you need me to sort them out."

"It's nobody in particular. The Ravenclaws don't get along with the Slytherins, and it's just a disaster waiting to happen."

"Alright, I'll talk to the kids tomorrow morning. Thanks for letting me know, though."

Nate smiled as Aurora threw back the last of her tea and she washed up her mug without being asked. He liked how she seemed to constantly care for her first years.

* * *

The sound of a foghorn blaring pushed through the sleep of Aurora's first years.

"Wakey wakey! Common room, five minutes!"

The wristwatch had informed her that it was quarter to four. She hadn't slept throughout the entire night as she lay awake and stared at the canopy over her bed and sorted out what tasks she had left against the list of kids she had left to utilise. There were plenty of things she wanted to get done, but she only seemed to have one kid left.

Aurora stood up with her back to the blackboard.

"Since the majority of you are now inaugurated to Slytherin house, you may go to bed, after I have spoken to you all about your Astrology class, I understand there has been a few fights breaking out with the Ravenclaws, and I just wanted to refresh your memories on how a Slytherin fights. You don't need to punch if your words will have a similar effect at no pain on your part. Now, my only quarrel is with this one name here. I just wanted to gather you all up here to congratulate you all on being my fastest ever initiation group! You all did exceptionally well, last year hadn't even finished before Halloween! Everyone, barring my final initiate."

The crowd of children didn't utter a single complaint at being woken up in the early hours of the morning. The seemingly ceaseless surprises of being risen by a foghorn's blast were over. They were free from the initiation hell that had tormented half of them into insomnia, but that was how Aurora liked it. She revelled in being feared, but she felt as though this one last kid might be deserving of the special treatment.

"Alenna Barton?" She asked. Aurora had learnt how to sound quizzical a long time ago.

The girl's blonde head bobbed.

"Don't you worry, darling. You're not in any kind of trouble. I've seen you observe the others in their wild goose chase. I will admit, a few were a little too aggressive for my liking, but I'm sure I can get those mistakes rectified soon. You're my special one in your year."

Aurora's flattery had burnt up the last of Alenna's resolve. She was finally coming around to seeing the glorified Slytherin pathway in a similar way to Aurora.

"I know you're so much better than the other juvenile idiots you share classes with, so I need you to do a little bit of work for me. You have the potential every other one of them lacks. You could be in my position by the time you're in your fifth year!"

"Really?" Alenna asked with hushed trepidation. She had seen Aurora on the platform and she had instantaneously known that she was going to look up to her. Here her idol was- saying she could achieve just the same as she had.

"Of course – you could be that little sister I never had. Are you an only child?"

"I've got a younger brot-"

"Aurora?" A voice called out from the doorway to the boy's dormitory, interrupting their conversation.

Aurora instinctively turned to see the familiar silhouette of Charlie in the doorway.

"What are you doing?" He asked. He stepped out of the doorway and approached the two girls.

"I'm having a tea party, Whitlock, what does it look like?" Aurora snapped, the gentleness of her voice liquefied.

"Last names already, Bianchi? Are we really that distant?" Charlie said as he took note of there being two girls on the sofa instead of just one.

"Yes, considering we don't speak any more and the only thing we have in common is allegiance to this house, I don't feel the need to behave amicably towards you any longer."

"Those are some big words for somebody who has the attention span of a squirrel. Where did you pick those up?"

Aurora turned to Alenna, and Charlie could almost feel his heart thawing at the softness in her voice, "Go back to bed. Sleep in; I'll cover your first lesson. Do you have astrology second?"

Alenna nodded.

"Okay, stay in for your first two lessons. And I'm guessing you have Muggle Studies before that?"

Alenna nodded again.

"Alright, I'll talk to your teachers and tell them what happened. I'll sort it all out for you. Don't tell anyone else, okay?"

Alenna smiled, and with a quick, frightened glance at Charlie, she scampered off.

"Oh, she'll be sure to _talk_ with your teachers, that's for sure," He hissed as Alenna pulled the door open.

Aurora waited for a moment to ensure that Alenna had gone away.

"What the fuck was that for?" She hissed back.

"We haven't had the chance to have a proper conversation since we allegedly broke up, or whatever that arrangement was, so I figured now you're up and Tessa isn't around, it would be the best time."

"Charlie, I'm tired and I want to go to bed. Plus, I can barely tell what you're saying, you're hissing so much only snakes can hear you now. Just let me go to bed, please."

"Fine. Usual spot, nine tomorrow, if you can be bothered."

Aurora ignored Charlie as she returned to curl up in between the cold sheets of her bed.

* * *

Aurora dropped by Professor Lupin's rooms first thing in the morning.

"Good morning, honey," he whispered as she kissed him on the lips. He pulled her towards him and they both ignored Teddy's distinct lack of clothing, as he had hastily donned a towel after hearing somebody knock at the door. His damp hair clung to the back of his neck and Aurora wondered for a moment if their relationship could even go anywhere. He wasn't particularly hot in the same sense she had found Charlie, he was cuter, but still he had the abs of Apollo.

"Good morning. I need a favour."

"What's up?"

"I need you to mark Alenna Barton as present in your lesson. I accidentally made her stay up late – super late – and I promised her I wouldn't ruin her attendance record."

"Can I get a favour in return?" He asked, smiling as he bit his lip.

"Anything for you, but not right now: I've got to go and bribe Professor Swan into marking her in and get time for breakfast."

Teddy couldn't help the gentle roll of his eyes. "Alright. Go on, I'll talk to you later. Can you do tonight?"

"No, sorry, I've got to talk to Charlie. He's being all whiny about our split or whatever, but there's nothing to worry about. No blowjob with your breakfast today, sweetie."

Teddy looked crestfallen for a moment but a smile broke through. "Alright, I'll see you later. Come here," He pulled Aurora back and kissed her on the lips again. His hand pushed against her lower back and she leant in towards him. "Go," he whispered after gently kissing her on the neck.

* * *

Aurora knocked on the doorway to Nate's room and waited to be allowed entry. He was considerably better dressed than Teddy had been, but the she allowed herself to blush as he did look at least a little appealing in that suit.

"Aurora. How can I help you?"

"I need a favour. Can I come in?"

"Sure. Did you speak with your first years?"

"Yeah, yeah. They should be behaving a little better today. I need you to do me a big favour, and I'll owe you at least two pieces of homework and maybe some palm-reading or something."

Nate laughed. "I know you'll never do those pieces of homework. And I don't need my palm read."

"Oh come on! What part of 'I'll owe you one' are you not getting? Honestly?"

"Aurora, I can't do this right now. I've got to go and talk to Professor Lupin."

"Nathaniel!" It took a moment for Nate to realise she really did mean it, "Fine, I'll owe you three pieces and any social favour you want."

"Any social favour?"

"Yes, of course. Any social favour."

"What do you need?"

"I need you to mark in Alenna Barton in your lesson. She's sleeping in at the moment, she got in the middle of something – messy last night, and I promised her I wouldn't completely trash her attendance."

Nate frowned, "Something messy? What do you mean?"

Aurora's lie-dar whirred into action. She knew the best way to lie was to stick to the truth as much as possible.

"I kind of used her to mediate an argument I had with somebody last night. It went on for a while. It was the only way I could prevent the argument from ending messily."

"You shouldn't do that, Aurora. But fine, provided you do me one favour in return."

"What about the other offers?"

Nate laughed drily, "Don't worry, Aurora. You're actually doing something nice for a kid for once; I'll give you that one."

Aurora's face transformed from smiling to closed up. "Fine. I'll see you for second lesson."

* * *

Aurora took breakfast in the kitchens after that. She could hardly believe what Nate was saying. She took care of her first years as best as she could. She had raised Slytherin house out of the ashes, no matter what lies Tessa had been spreading.

Then the reasoning behind Tessa spreading those lies hit Aurora like a truck. Her fork fell to the ground, but she barely noticed it. She had been far too preoccupied with being mad at Tessa and Charlie for so long that she'd completely forgotten that the Head of House polls were taking place soon.

"Miss Bianchi, there are two letters here for you," the house elf said, with a roll of parchment in her hand. In the other was a clean fork after Aurora had dropped her own on the floor.

"Thank you, Wendy." Aurora unravelled the parchment and sighed in relief. One was from Professor Longbottom, telling her that she had been nominated as a candidate for Head Girl of Slytherin, and the other was a hastily scrawled note from Teddy, telling her the other candidates. Tessa's name hadn't even been mentioned. Aurora suddenly remembered why Tessa had been kept out of it – she shouldn't have even been considered, not after the vodka incident of fourth year. That had been a travesty.

Aurora scrawled back a quick note to Teddy, which she would press into his hand in three hours' time.

"Thanks for breakfast guys," Aurora said as she moved her plate over to the washing up sink. She said her goodbyes as she left and the doorknob turned back into a pear behind her after the door shut.

* * *

Aurora had the option of handing the note to Teddy earlier than she intended. She caught the hatred in Charlie's eyes in the middle of the crowded corridor, and it hadn't gone unnoticed by Teddy either.

Aurora met Charlie at nine that night, after the voting madness that had consumed the Great Hall after dinner.

She sat on the other side of the dark alleyway and lurked in the shadows until he arrived, but he said only a few words before disappearing again.

"Aurora," he whispered after catching sight of her. He walked over and clasped her cheeks between his hands. "I'm sorry about what happened. I got Tessa taken off the candidate list. So far every single Slytherin has voted for you. It's a landslide. I'm sorry. I love you."

That hadn't been the first time Charlie had confessed his love, but Aurora ignored it, as he had done that many times before after having sex.

Aurora didn't have to say anything during their hasty little congregation. Charlie strolled off as if nothing had even happened and Aurora walked away quickly afterwards.

Aurora returned to the common room and quickly sought out Alenna.

"Hiya, I sorted everything out for you, so you were marked in. There's no need to worry about it."

"Thank you, Aurora. Do you need me to do anything in particular?"

"Not right now," She frowned, "Actually - no, don't worry, this one I have to deal with by myself. If you need anything, don't hesitate to let me know."

"Thank you," Alenna blushed.

* * *

Aurora curled up on the sofa in between Elliot and Lysander that evening as they warmed themselves by the fire. October was drawing to a close, and Aurora's birthday was quickly approaching. Soon the temperatures would reach arctic levels, and the green fire that heated the room would be pocketed in small jars by almost every Slytherin.

"Are you doing anything for your birthday this year, Aurora?" Elliot asked as he drew some of the fire towards him with his wand, and then captured it in a glass jar.

"I've got to, haven't I? Everyone's expecting it. Can you make me a jar?"

"Sure. Got any preference over what colour fire you want?"

"Silver, if at all possible," Aurora mumbled as she leant her head back.

"Here you go. Enjoy, if it starts dying on you, let me know."

"Cheers," Aurora clasped the jar of silver fire between her hands. "I don't know what to do for my birthday this year. I'm not really feeling up to a party," She side-eyed Charlie and Tessa, who were tangled up on another one of the plush sofas that the Slytherins had nicked from the Hufflepuffs. Their password was so useless.

"We'll do it for you. How does that sound?"

"Insistent little shit. Alright. You know the rules, no third years or below. Except maybe Lily. Where is she tonight, anyway?"

"No idea. She said she had Muggle stuff she needed to get done, maybe she's talking with Professor Lupin or something," Lysander said, "She's probably got caught up with Rose, 'Rora. Nothing to worry about."

"Rose Weasley is something you need to worry about. She's such a -" Aurora struggled to find the right word. "Asswaffle."

"Asswaffle?" Elliot laughed.

"Shut up, bambino. I speak four languages, go to hell."

"I would, but my special reservation had to be cancelled for you. I'm sorry - I hope you enjoy ruling hell."

"The throne is where I belong," Aurora said smugly. "Do you think I'm making a mistake with Alenna?"

"Nah - I'd say she's alright. You could twist her any way you want to."

"Excellent. That was just what I intend to do."

"You're going to trash that poor kid's life."

"Good. These kids have trashed mine."

* * *

A/N: Happy April! It still feels as though it's January here :( I should be doing weekly updates as I think I'm going to put Supernova and Seeing Clearly on hold until this story is into the twenties/late 10's in chapters. But chapter 14 should be out next week! I felt as though 'Jealous Girl' fit this chapter due to Charlie's jealousy.  
Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter universe. My OC's and the plot are the only things I can take any form of credit for.


	14. silver

silver

"we were told to sit tight because somebody will soon arrive," – help is on the way, rise against

The next morning, Aurora received an invitation to the Head's office with her mail. Besides that, both her mail and her morning were fairly uninteresting.

Aurora sat down next to Lysander. That marked the gathering of all of the Heads of Houses and Professor Longbottom smiled as he clasped his hands in front of him.

"Congratulations to all of you," He said, his eyes sliding past Aurora as though she wasn't there. "For becoming Heads of your respective houses. Here are your badges, please wear them with pride. A meeting will be held next week to discuss duties and what you can and cannot do with this position of power."

Professor Longbottom handed the badges in alphabetical order, which meant that the Slytherin pair were the last to get their badges.

And yet Aurora's smile was unbent, unbroken and unyielding as Professor Longbottom handed her the Head Girl badge for Slytherin house. Silver inscription glinted over a dark green background - she loved it. Her smirk even infected Charlie a little, which had made her own grow in turn.

"Again, congratulations, and do not behave incorrectly or else we will have to revoke this privilege."

* * *

The eight sixth years filed out and James overheard Aurora muttering something to Lysander.

"What privileges? As far as I'm aware, they want us to just sit down, shut up and behave."

"I'm guessing that's not going to be likely?"

"Of course not, this is me we're talking about. There's nothing in the rules about behaviour. They should have thought that one through."

"I don't think they were expecting you, Aurora."

"Nobody ever does," she said, smiling smugly.

"I hope you know what I had to sacrifice for this," Charlie hissed in her ear as he snatched her up and frogmarched her away from the large group of other Heads, which included Lysander as Head Boy of Slytherin and James Potter as Head Boy of Gryffindor.

"I do, and for that, I suppose I'm thankful."

"You suppose you're thankful? Wow. Fuck you too."

"That's the point, you won't."

"No, Teddy'll be fucking you tonight, won't he? What about Professor Swan? I've seen the way you lead him on. That's rude."

"I do not lead him on," Aurora spat.

"Please. Blushing whenever he comes near? You can't ignore the way he looks at you, either. It's just ridiculous, grow up and accept that he likes you because you're leading him on."

"I do not blush, Charles. Just shut up!"

Charlie laughed, "You do. And you like him otherwise you wouldn't be defending yourself like this. You'll never be able to get a guy your own age because you'll never find them worthy of your so important time, will you?"

"Go fuck yourself, you prick," She hissed as Charlie walked off.

* * *

Aurora sat between Lysander and Elliot at dinner time, but on the other side of Elliot, sat Molly, and next to him, Charlie was sat, who was sat next to Tessa.

Aurora saw James from across the room, and she wondered where his tie had come from. The stripes were thicker than his old one - that reminded Aurora. She had to find it amongst the wreckage that was the Initiation Box. That was going to be a task and a half, although hopefully it would be worth it.

* * *

The Room of Requirement was packed to celebrate Aurora's birthday and coming of age. Elliot had been mostly responsible for organising the party in the limit of two days and three hours, but he had done a pretty good job in Aurora's eyes. She always found hastily thrown parties were a lot more fun and nonchalant than one that had been prepared weeks in advance.

"Sorry that it's so shitty, but a fuckload of people were interested and we had barely enough time to sneak out," Elliot said as he sat down next to Aurora on a block of wood that the Room had produced for him when he set up.

"Yeah, sure. Whatever. I don't mind. Just make sure there's some bloody vodka left. I'm going to need to be drunk if I want this evening to go well," She said as she swirled what was left of her drink around the bottom of her cup.

Elliot laughed. "Why?"

"Because at least then I have a scapegoat for my behaviour," She muttered as Lysander approached the pair.

Elliot and Lysander laughed.

"Just have a good time, sweetie. You're legal now! More than I am," Lysander said, before disappearing again, in the direction of the music box.

"Not to mention that you look drop dead gorgeous," Elliot said, whistling.

"Oh, shut up," Aurora laughed. "But thanks, I guess. By the way – you're never going to get Betty Young if you whistle at her like that."

"I do not want Betty Young!"

"You do!" Aurora taunted, joking about with Elliot as she so often did. They both knew of Betty's love for Elliot, and he adamantly denied any reciprocation of her feelings.

"I do not! Who are you trying to catch with that dress on, anyway? Hungry infants?"

Aurora retaliated by punching him on the arm with a quick comment, "Well the only person you're going to attract in that is Betty Young and you don't even have to work to get that."

* * *

Aurora stood at the window of the Astrology tower and observed the stars without the aid of the telescope. She smiled softly at nothing in particular as a harsh wind ripped past the tower. It was always windy whenever Aurora was visiting. She clutched her arms closer to her body and wished that she'd brought her jar of fire up to the tower with her, but that may have informed the patrolling Prefects that she was up there, and she was not up for Charlie finding out about her plan, and she knew Rose Weasley would be more than just happy to tell on her.

"Aurora?" A quiet voice behind her asked hesitantly.

She turned her head around and saw Nate standing in the doorway. She felt the wind rip her hair away from her back and she struggled to stop herself from shivering.

"What are you doing up here - it's dangerous at night," Nate said. He walked across the room after hastily depositing his things on a small table beside the door. He took one of her wrists and unfolded her arms as he pulled her away from the side of the tower. "You're freezing. Come here." He enveloped her in hug, but her temperature didn't improve. "What were you thinking of, Aurora? You shouldn't even be up at night."

Aurora wrapped her arms around Nate's neck and rested her forehead on his shoulder and felt herself falling asleep. He wouldn't go to Teddy - would he?

"Oh, come here," Nate said as he scooped her up. Aurora fell asleep quickly against his arm as he carried her through endless corridors, avoiding prefects and ghosts alike.

Aurora woke herself up as she recognized the heat of the Astrology classroom. It wasn't very draughty, like the corridors, neither was it like a sauna, like Teddy's room.

She mumbled something incoherent as Nate lay her down on his bed. The dress itched against her back and she squirmed as he put her down. He tucked her in a second later and her bare feet explored the bottom of his bed. He took a quick moment to brush the hair out of her eyes, which Aurora used to open her eyes.

"Don't go," she whispered as she felt exhaustion try and claw back into her, "Please don't go," She repeated, despite Nate saying that he wouldn't and that it was improper of him, "I'm not asking for anything except your body heat, Nathaniel." She whispered again. Nate turned away, stood up and promptly left the room. She took whatever time she might've had to squirm free of her dress and she curled up and faced the wall and let herself fall asleep.

* * *

Nate discovered the hard way that Aurora was a snuggler. She clung onto him as if there was no tomorrow and he was seriously wondering if she did it on purpose.

Despite all of it, Nate found himself holding on to her in return. He woke up in the morning with his hands on her back and hers lying on his sweater clad chest. He found himself smiling as the way she slept. She almost smiled as she slept, with every inhale Nate could feel the hand on his chest shifting a little. He found himself trying to keep in time with her as well, so as to not disrupt her breathing rate.

Her odd eyes opened ten minutes later and Nate felt her legs move away from his.

"Good morning," he said cheerfully as she suddenly moved away from him.

"Hiya," she said quietly, "Do you know what time it is?"

"It's about six. You've been out of it for a good six and a half hours."

"Oh," she whispered. "Thank you."

"Can I interest you in a cup of coffee?"

Aurora hesitated and Nate also found himself wondering if she always looked this adorable when she first woke up, "No, thanks."

"Are you sure? You don't look very awake."

"Go on then," She muttered.

Nate sat up and left the room, which promptly left Aurora to her scheming. Christmas holidays were in around six weeks - was this really worth it? She could just go to Teddy, after all, he wouldn't mind.

He returned five minutes later to inquire as to how she had her coffee.

"Think Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, and then you're there," She said quietly. Nate's low rumble of a laugh could be heard a minute or two after he left Aurora again. He returned another five minutes later with two steaming mugs of coffee. He perched on the edge of the bed as Aurora downed her own drink and she smiled as she placed the coffee mug on the bedside table.

"You're welcome to stay here and sleep in, if you want to," Nate said after a while. He felt as though Aurora was watching him drink and that put him off.

"Thanks for the offer, but I should be going soon. It'd be hard to explain my absence, and it'd be risky for me to be found here."

"Oh, yeah. I hadn't thought of that one," Nate said as he finished the rest of his own drink. "Happy birthday, regardless."

"Thanks." Aurora smiled as Nate picked up both mugs and left to presumably return them to the kitchen.

Aurora quickly re-dressed in her party dress and picked up her shoes. She evaded Nate as he washed up and sung the place down and snuck out of the doorway. She had perfected that many weeks before with Teddy. The constant flooing of his so called 'girlfriend' had almost taken the both of them by surprise. Now she couldn't floo directly in without asking, but neither could Aurora sneak out with the fireplace.

She returned to her dormitory ten minutes later, without a single encounter with Peeves, which she was thankful for. Tessa wasn't lying in her own bed and Aurora presumed her to be in Charlie's. She probably would be, after all, she needed the attention it would give her after she didn't become Head Girl of Slytherin.

* * *

"James!" Aurora called across the Library entrance. "James Potter!" She had known that he'd be up here - Alenna had been more than happy to scout him out for her.

James approached Aurora carefully, checking her face for the obvious signs of a prank in waiting: a corner of a smile or the defensive pose she so often held before he got dungbombed.

"What do you want?" He asked cautiously.

"I wanted to give you something."

"Like what?"

"This," she reached into her pocket and retrieved a small parcel, wrapped in brown paper and tied with a small piece of string, "Here. Sorry about it. All I could find on such short notice."

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing, just take it, James. I promise it's not a trap."

"How do I know I can take your word for it?"

"You're just going to have to trust me, aren't you?" Aurora thrust the package into his hands and forced them shut over it. "Just - trust me." She said as she disappeared, back into the sudden oncoming sea of students. James sighed and stuffed it into his pocket, so he could safely diffuse it later if needed.

* * *

James hesitated as he sat the package down on his golden and scarlet covers. He pulled cautiously at the string and turned the package over. He used his wand to nudge the paper open and closed his eyes as he turned away. He turned back to see his tie, neatly repaired and completely flawless. The cut that the first year had made a few weeks ago hadn't been stitched over – she had presumably done a spell to repair it without the other need of a needle and thread.

* * *

**A/N:** I know it's a short chapter - but it's made up in the next one. There's a big jump in time from this chapter to the next but it'll be pointed out at the start of the chapter. I've been a busy bee and I've already got up to chapter 16 written! Since I've written so far ahead of myself, I can update every week! Maybe even twice a week! (cue the confetti)  
Tell me what you think - I'd love to see some thoughts on Aurora's comments on James trusting her.  
Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter universe. My OC's and the plot are the only things I can take any form of credit for.


	15. celestial

celestial

"head in the clouds but my gravity's centred," – sweater weather, the neighbourhood.

Night time had always been the best time of day for Aurora, that was if it even constituted as a time of day. The stars smiled down on her through the clear air and the moon hung low on the horizon. The sun slipped away behind her in a sleepy haze of pinks and oranges, as though it was worth nothing to her world. The colours and the chill emptied her mind and froze her muscles.

"Didn't expect to find you up here, Aurora," Professor Swan said from behind her.

"I didn't either," She replied light-heartedly. "Maybe my heart just longs to freeze solid in this cold night."

"Here, take my coat."

"No. I like the cold - don't."

"You're an odd little cookie, aren't you?"

"I may be odd Mr Swan, but I am not a baked good. Stick your beak into something else."

Nate continued to probe the problem, "So why do you like the cold? There's nothing good about it."

"There is. Without the cold, there would be no heat. It's the kind of cold that hollows your cheeks and freezes your soul solid, no matter what form it's taking."

"You believe in souls?"

"I'm a Seer, Nate. Of course I do," Aurora said in her most disapproving tone.

"I had no idea."

"Well, now you know what I believe in. Enjoy the useless knowledge."

"Do you really like being up here?"

"Why else would I be here, you nitwit?"

"Maybe your boyfriend is being particularly cloying today. You are dating that Charlie boy, aren't you?"

"I was," She muttered. "He cheated. I cheated. Loyalty was not a well-practiced trait in our relationship."

"Oh. Who'd he cheat on you with?"

"My supposed 'best friend'."

"Well, that's not great."

"No, it's not. Thanks for telling me, Captain Obvious."

"Who'd you cheat on him with then?"

"None of your business."

"Come on, you can tell me," he playfully nudged her shoulder with his.

"No, I can't. All I'm going to tell you is that he's around your age."

"Ah, you have a thing for older guys?"

"I guess so." She smiled weakly against the gushing breeze.

* * *

Aurora watched from Teddy's bedroom window as the first snow of winter began to fall. She surveyed the snowflakes as they dripped lazily from the sky, assaulting the poor and unfortunate nature that grew on, unsuspecting of the sudden winter frost.

"Are you coming back to bed?" Teddy asked as he sat up. His hair was a dark brown, only just distinguishable from a black in the soft canary yellow of the lamp light.

"Of course. It's so gorgeous, though."

"I know. You're gorgeous too, you know that right?"

"You've told me enough times for me to know it," Aurora said as Teddy got up and kissed her on the neck. "Something tells me you're not up to admire the snowfall."

* * *

Christmas holidays arrived earlier than expected, but the students of Hogwarts found themselves with more time than usual to celebrate the occasion. Aurora remained at Hogwarts and that very night, and she tucked herself into her bed and ensured that Professor Slughorn had seen her going. She was quick to start all of the necessary preparations for her night out: she descended into the bathroom and began to get ready.

She hadn't intended to see the flyer advertising a party at 'the Moon', but all of her plans after that had the ideal goal of getting there in common. She knew the Slytherin fireplace couldn't host a floo – Flitwick had it blocked every single holiday so they couldn't get out easily after the first initiation. Teddy's rooms were probably locked up, since he was staying with his 'fiancée' for the holidays. Nate's rooms, however, might be open. She hadn't seen him packing to go on holiday.

* * *

Aurora finished getting ready an hour later and she planned her route up to Nate's room. She picked up a fistful of Floo powder from the flower pot on the edge of the hearth and dumped it into a small paper cup, in case she came across a fireplace on the way. After thinking about it, she took another handful and then dusted the remaining Floo powder off her hands and onto the floor. She quickly brushed it underneath the Persian rug that had been there many years before Aurora.

She would find traces of the green glittering powder on her bare legs several times throughout the night and she would try to dust that off, but it wouldn't budge.

* * *

Aurora's search for a fireplace was cut short as she discovered a fire burning in the corridor to keep the corridors warm while the students were away. She tossed a pinch of Floo powder into the fire and watched as the flames transformed to a bright green and grew until they licked the mantle of the fireplace.

Aurora smiled to herself for a moment, checked she had her bag and grabbed a fistful of powder and threw it into the fireplace again. She climbed into the flames and let them tickle at her skin before she uttered the two words that could be so fateful if she said them wrong, "Diagon Alley."

* * *

Aurora had been forced to duck behind Three Eyed Larry to get out of the Leaky Cauldron without Mrs Longbottom and her husband seeing her. Three Eyed Larry was hardly a skinny gentleman, but he was at least six foot seven and Aurora found the perfect cover behind him as he exited Leaky.

Aurora ducked into Muggle London with a twirl. She was better at navigating the endless streets of London than most students at Hogwarts would be, but she still managed to walk past 'the Moon' countless times.

Aurora dashed away into the surging crowds and momentarily enjoyed the feeling of wholesomeness she felt with the crowd. It quickly dissolved as she pushed through and out of the group. She finally reached it at half past nine and she walked in without being intervened by a bouncer and she could even order a drink without being asked for ID.

* * *

It took Nate a while to catch the attention of the bartender to order his drink. He tapped the top of the bar repeatedly, and five minutes later, he was being served.

Despite all of it, the bartender smiled as he collected Nate's muggle money off the side and swept it into his apron's pocket.

None of the Muggles in the club would be any wiser to a wizard in their midst. Nate had grown up half-immersed in the Muggle world and left to drown in the Wizarding world. He had liked the stars from when he was barely a boy and always found himself returning to them in times of trouble.

"Wolfram please," Someone said in accented English from the top of the U-shaped bar.

Nate glanced up at the person ordering and only caught the back of her head as she turned away, her attention captivated by a sudden movement of lights from across the room. He turned back when his own drink turned up and as did the mystery woman's. He looked again and caught sight of the back of the woman's hand. She was tanned, maybe through origins or her job. She didn't seem to have any stiffness in her body as she shifted from side to side, so Nate ruled a dragon keeper out.

After finishing her cocktail, she ordered another. And another. But Nate never caught sight of her face: just the back of her head. Nate noted her long, dark hair had been taken care of. She was probably one of the rich Muggle kids, out with her friends in the big city. He had come across many girls like that: constantly holding several boys at arm's length, but keeping them close enough to make sure they didn't run. He didn't have a problem with those kinds of girls, instead they fascinated him: however most things had a way of interesting Nate.

He looked up from his second beer and saw that the woman had disappeared. He saw her back seconds later, walking onto the dance floor with somebody Nate knew to be a Muggle. As she twirled, both her hair and her leather skirt flared out. Her legs almost seemed to glitter green and silver in the strobe lights, but Nate was fairly certain that the beer he'd just downed wasn't helping in the slightest. However through his half-drunken stupor, he noted that her posture was simply impeccable and she moved with the easy grace of somebody who knew what their body could do and that she was willing to utilise it.

* * *

His heart smashed into his ribcage in revenge for his feelings towards this new girl. She slid from right to left with considerable ease as the man behind her danced clumsily in comparison. She smiled softly for a moment as her dark hair fanned out. She spun around to face him - Nate had seen that through the ceaseless sea of people. The little green monster inside the atria of his heart clawed up and grew as he envied the six foot seven man and the way he could easily approach such an enigma like that girl. Nate knew her type just by the drinks she ordered: confident, dissembling and constantly reassured of themselves.

After downing a drink he didn't honestly remember ordering, Nate forced himself up and out of the sitting position he had been in for the past two hours and crossed the dancefloor. His little enigma, the one he had been admiring all night, had been left alone by the hulk of a man she had been with for the past half an hour and she had danced all alone on the floor. Her body stiffened first at the embrace, but gently softened until their bodies moved in tandem. He could feel her heart hammering through her back, and she smelt faintly of vanilla and blackberries but she also smelt slightly of sweat. Maybe she wasn't a Muggle - he doubted that any Muggle could still smell that decent after a period of dancing that was that long. He kissed her neck and he could almost feel her release a breath he hadn't noticed she was holding.

She sung under her breath, as though it was just for the two of them to share. Her voice was out of tune and she was drunk enough to the point of slurring, but she still seemed to remember the words exactly. Nate held her left hand in his and noted how slender her fingers were. He worried that should he hold on too tight, he'd crush the fragile looking bones into nothingness. His other hand brushed her hip and slid underneath her shirt and burnt swirling patterns that never ceased into the bare skin of her waist.

* * *

Aurora found that she didn't mind when Nate touched her – she found the touch almost familiar after falling asleep in Nate's bed and waking in the middle of the night to find one of his arms locked underneath her bare back with his hand clutching onto her hip.

It was a soft and restrained action, and she knew Nate was hesitating about even takingher back to his home. She could hardly help but compare how serene he was with how relentless Charlie or Teddy seemed to be. She found the gentle hold he had on her waist comfortable and even a little bit satisfying in comparison to how rough things had been with her previous relationships. Teddy wasn't in the past yet – Aurora had no idea of how to let him down, especially since he seemed so dedicated to breaking up with The _Precious _Victoire. She wasn't even sure she could let him down.

* * *

Nate could see her cheek curve as she smiled. He brushed the hair away from her back and hoped she didn't mind this. He had never had much first-hand experience with girls - although he wasn't a virgin, he was hardly an expert. He swept her hair over her shoulder and gently kissed where her hair met the back of her neck.

"Oh," she breathed, her lips barely forming the word. "I don't suppose you live around here, do you?"

"A couple of roads away. Why?"

She turned with a flash and kissed him back, hard. For a second, Nate thought her eyes were separate colours, but he quickly passed that off as the alcohol's fault. He could taste the absinthe burning on her tongue. "Because I don't think it's legal to do some of the things here that I would do in private."

"Oh," it was his turn to contemplate now; the risks of taking her back to his place. What if Maryse showed up? She'd been a disaster waiting to happen, but at least she hadn't completely freaked out when she saw the star charts he kept up all over his flat. Not to mention all of the magical incidents waiting to happen in his house. The chances of Maryse ever turning up were unlikely – she and Nate had broken up a long time ago, but she was still sending him cards every now and then, despite him pointedly not replying.

Nate relaxed, took her other hand in his and smiled. "You don't have anything else with you, do you?" He whispered in her ear.

She waved the clutch bag she held in one hand and shrugged. Her eyes constantly evaded his, even if he was looking her way for perhaps a cheeky little glimpse of her face.

They walked together, both maintaining a straight enough line as they pranced, side by side. Nate fumbled with his keys countless times as he opened the door to his block of flats, and even more so when they finally reached his level and he had to open his own front door.

The pear green door had barely shut before Nate found his little enigma kissing him again. Her fingers touched just about every part of him that she could; never settling down and being gentle. He felt the curve of her smile against his as she tugged at his shirt, her fingers doing nothing against the prison bars of his buttons. He had been fanciful enough to wear a shirt that night, and he was hoping it wouldn't come back to bite him.

"Take it off," she whined, breathing softly into his neck as she removed her own top. Nate obliged, and pulled at the corners of his shirt.

* * *

**A/N:** It's only about a hundred words longer but hey, I'm sticking to this regular update thing! I've finished one of my GCSE's today, so I'm going to have loads more spare time to write too, so there may be longer chapters soon!  
**Disclaimer: **I don't own the Harry Potter universe. My OC's and the plot are the only things I can take any form of credit for.


	16. revelation

revelation

"if i could hold you, in my arms," - abraham's song (bibio remix), DM Stith.

Aurora woke up the next morning, tangled in the sheets of someone else's bed. Her head stung a little, but nothing more. She turned her head against the pillow, inhaling a lungful of sandalwood and stared directly at her latest hook-up.

_So that had been a thing,_ she thought. Very little of the previous night returned to her, and what did was incredibly blurry. She had always been incredibly good at maintaining her posture when she was absolutely hammered, not so much when it came to the morning after. However the morning after was usually spent next to Charlie, not her Astrology professor.

She lifted her head from the dark purple pillow and looked around Nate's bedroom. The place was practically barren. The plain, pale mint walls displayed no pictures and a thick, clean cream carpet covered the floorboards.

Aurora felt movement next to her and quickly closed her eyes. She had turned away from Nate while her eyes roamed the bedroom and now she had no idea what he was doing.

She felt the duvet move and Nate's weight moved off the bed. His soft footsteps slipped away from the bedroom and Aurora heard a shower turn on. After a couple of minutes more, Aurora got up for herself and found an old sweater over the headboard. She pushed through her slight hangover and located the kitchen in Nate's flat and thanked the fact that he didn't use magic to cook.

She flicked the kettle on and searched through his cupboards for any form of tea. She found a chipped mug on the side and rummaged through the drawers for a teaspoon.

The shower shut off ten minutes later, while Aurora was still sat and waiting for her peppermint tea to steep, as the kettle had proved to be a formidable enemy for her. Nate entered the kitchen with a towel wrapped around his hips and damp hair.

"Oh my – no. No." He uttered as she turned to face him.

"Nate?" She asked quietly. Her act of disbelieving was flawless.

He turned and skittered out of his kitchen before she could breathe another word.

* * *

"Nate?" Aurora asked as she knocked on the bedroom door, clutching her mug of tea between her hands, "Are you alright?"

"Go away!" He shouted through his white door. "Just - please go away."

"Alright. If that's what you want," Aurora said quietly. That had the best chance of getting Nate out of his sanctuary. She walked into the lounge and sat down on one of his stiff and unworn sofas.

"Aurora, I'm sorry, but what do you want?" He asked after abandoning his room.

"What do I want?" She snapped. "Sorry. That was rude. I don't want to go back to my Dad's for the holidays. I'd apologise for what happened between us, but I'm honestly not sure that it will never happen again."

"It will never happen again, Aurora! I can't be doing this right now!" Nate moved to stand up, but found himself being sat back down but Aurora.

"Can't be doing what?" Her voice was soft and caressing, and it made him confess.

"I can't sleep with you now. I can't do that ever again."

"Why not? Was it really that bad?"

"No - no, but I just can't do that again, Aurora." His eyes refused to meet hers again.

"Are you trying to deny something to yourself? Be honest here - did you like last night?"

"Yes."

"Do you want it to continue?"

"Yes. But - no. Yes. No."

Aurora's hand touched his cheek, and her voice caressed his anxiety, "You do, don't you? It's alright, don't hold yourself back Nathaniel. You don't want to put your job in danger - I understand that. I don't want to do that to you, so how about we keep this just as a holiday thing?"

Nate frowned. His conscience had been put to sleep by Aurora's soothing tone and it had cleared the way for her manipulation.

"Okay - just don't tell anyone."

"Of course not, my dear. Why would I tell anybody our little secret?"

"So that really did happen, huh?" He half-joked.

"Yeah, I guess it did."

Saying that Aurora hadn't intended to fuck her Astrology teacher would be a lie. It would be one of the smaller lies in her life, after all she was a prolific liar and she thrived on having the upper hand with other people, but it was still a small lie. It was one she wasn't ready to admit to herself yet. She prided on knowing that Nate had no idea how she just so happened to turn up that night at the same bar and how she knew that that particular dress would drive him insane.

"Do you have to go?" Nate asked as he brushed hair away from her neck and kissed her jawline.

Aurora chuckled, "Are you suggesting that you enjoy my company? And no, I don't have to go."

He smiled back as her lips brushed his. "You've got to stop kissing my neck, you're driving me crazy."

"I hope it's a good kind of crazy," he murmured into her ear.

"It's the 'I really want you to have sex with me' kind of crazy."

"Well I sure can sate that desire, if you're still interested."

"Oh," she whispered as Nate pulled her onto his lap. She wasn't finding the situation particularly odd, she had done this many times with Charlie, and once upon a time, she used to behave like this with Teddy.

Things with Teddy had spiralled out of control shortly after, as his need for romance was quelled by his sheer lust for anybody else. Aurora once thought that he'd fuck himself if that was possible.

"What? Do you mind?" Nate's tone was cautious.

"No, I'm just," She pretended to struggle to find the right word, "Not used to this, I suppose." She gave a dry chuckle as she considered pouring her heart out to Nate in order to get some empathy.

"Have you ever felt that somebody didn't need you - like, as a person - but instead only was interested in what your body could provide them?"

Nate frowned, "I hope I'm not coming across as being like that."

"No, no. You're not," Aurora backtracked. "It's just that my previous relationships haven't ended on particularly positive notes."

"Relationships?"

Shit, Aurora thought. That was a mistake. "I flitted from guy to guy from first year until third year when I started going out with Charlie. I couldn't find a decent way to end a single one of them."

"You've been dating Charlie that long?"

"I dated Charlie for that long," Aurora stressed the past tense, "It's no longer existing. Can we not talk about it, please?"

"Of course, of course. Sorry. I didn't realise it'd upset you."

"It's okay. I don't usually share these things with other people, I just feel really comfortable with you."

Nate half smiled and said nothing more. "I'm really hoping I haven't killed the mood because I'm still very much interested in sleeping with you."

Aurora giggled, "I was hoping that wasn't a wand in your pocket."

* * *

Aurora pulled herself up in the middle of the night. She had to praise Nate for his stamina, or at least his gym work. When she had first met him, he had been a spindly young thing with arms skinnier than wires. Now he was considerably bulkier, with muscle just about everywhere. She meant everywhere. She had spent nearly every night with her head resting on his chest or his bicep and it hadn't been as uncomfortable as every time if it happened with Charlie or Teddy.

She brushed the curtain aside and glanced out. The streetlamp glared back into the room and bit at her widened pupils and forced them to shrink. The stars couldn't be seen from here, right in the suburbs of the city. A huddle of kids in the street below bickered and chanted, but Aurora was too far away to distinguish what was being said.

Aurora longed to be back at home in Italy, or to at least be back at Hogwarts. She was seventeen now, she could do magic outside of school and was seen as an adult in the eyes of the Wizarding world, but she was still forced to spend time at her father's house. She was still pushed around like the runt of the litter. Her eyes watered momentarily as she pushed the image away. She couldn't be the runt of the litter. She _was_ the litter. She was the only living proof that her parents had even been in love.

"Are you coming back to bed, Aurora?" Nate asked, sitting up.

"Of course, I just couldn't sleep." She said, despite not being asked for an explanation. She struggled to keep her voice steady as she stared out of the window.

"That's alright. Do you like the view?"

"Yeah, I suppose it's nice. It's got nothing on Hogwarts though."

"I wouldn't think that you see much of the landscape when you're down in the dungeons all of the time," Nate said as he hugged Aurora from behind. He pushed her arms up to wrap his arms around her bare waist and kissed her neck again. "Is it odd that this is starting to feel right?"

"You wait 'til we're back at school. Things won't be right then."

Nate made a soft sound of agreement and sighed ever so lightly.

Aurora smiled and coyly glanced up at Nate. They had only been staying together for the past three days and she was still twisting him as though he was a piece of rope, but if he knew, he didn't mind.

His hand brushed at her cheek before he tilted her chin up to kiss her on the lips. She allowed him to coax her back into bed before the inevitable quizzing came along.

She had barely covered herself with his duvet before he rolled onto his side and stared her in the eyes and asked her, "I know you're not a virgin - do you mind me asking when you lost it?"

Aurora turned her head and smiled at Nate. "Curious one, aren't you?" Nate laughed nervously and she smiled. "Only if you tell me when you lost yours."

"Deal, I suppose. So, how old were you?"

Nate could tell Aurora was blushing, even underneath the darkness of his bedroom. The streetlight that seemed to be the perfect height for his bedroom window tried to fight to get through his curtains and small shadows danced across his bedroom floor as the night wore on.

"Promise me you won't be completely and utterly disgusted with me?"

"Why would I be disgusted?" Nate asked before kissing her on the top of her head.

"Because I was thirteen years old, Nate," Aurora murmured into his chest.

"Oh," he whispered back as he kissed her hair again.

"Thought so. You're disgusted with me," She hissed as she pushed away from him and got back up.

"No, no, why would I be?" He replied softly, holding onto her wrist.

"Because I was young and stupid and –" She sobbed a little before turning back to the warmth of his bed. _You're not supposed to be doing this,_ she thought. _Turn back now, Bianchi!_

* * *

"Aurora?" Nate asked, four days later. Those four days had conveniently been the best of his life, and that had made the past week the best of his entire existence. He had noted the black hole she had left in the bed by getting up and whisking her warmth away earlier on in the morning, but he had been too exhausted to get up.

"Morning," she said sadly.

"What's up?" He asked as he poured himself a mug of hot water.

"I have to go and see my Dad."

"Why?"

"Custody thing. Until I've left Hogwarts, I have to go and stay with him, or at least see him every holiday."

"Oh. I'm guessing you don't like it there?"

"Not in the slightest. I'd rather get sent to hell."

Nate laughed softly, "Alright. Why don't you just not go?"

"I have to check in with my mother too. She'll murder me in the summer if I don't go and visit."

"Do you need to floo?"

Aurora nodded sadly.

"Alright. I'll set the fire up for you. Do you want to come back here?"

"I don't think I'll be able to," Aurora's fingers clutched on to the waistband of his jogging bottoms, "My mum won't want me to go."

Nate's mouth formed a little 'O' shape.

"She's a little protective in these cases. I guess I can understand it, but that doesn't mean I want to."

"Shh, come back to bed for a while and don't worry."

"Yeah. That sounds good."

Nate could hardly contain his beam as she lazily looked up to him and smiled.

* * *

Aurora leapt into the Wicking house's lounge seven hours later, intruding on her father's lunchtime with his wife and her step-brother.

"Marina! What a pleasure!" Her father said as she steadied herself on the mantle.

"How many times have I told you, _my name is Aurora,_" she hissed.

"Now, let's not argue when you just got here. You can come and have some lunch with us when you've changed out of that hideous outfit."

Aurora looked down at the sweater Nate had leant her for the rest of the holiday. "What's wrong with it?"

"It's not proper to wear something like that at the dinner table, Marina."

"How many times have I corrected you, my name is _not _Marina, Father. My name is Aurora. Or do you even care about me now you've gone and remarried? It seems you're perfectly happy here with your suburban lifestyle, so why do you still insist on making me visit every holiday?"

"Marina, you are my flesh and blood, you should behave as such."

"Aurora! My name is Aurora! You hardly treat me as though I'm your daughter! You treat Zach better than you treat me – and he's not even your biological child! Have you even adopted him?"

"Marina, go to your room this instant!"

Aurora laughed. "Sure. I'll go to my room, except we have the minor problem of my actual bedroom being in another country!" She stormed out of her father's putrid rose smelling house and onto the street. She made sure to slam the door shut after her, just to really get the point across.

"Marina! You come back here right now!" Aurora heard her father demand.

She turned around to swear at him and turned back to pick up her pace into a light jog, and then she blasted into a run and pelted herself into a run.

She knocked on the door of the Potter's home and anxiously shifted her weight from foot to foot as she waited for somebody to open the door.

"Good afternoon, Aurora. How can I help you?" Albus Potter said after he realised who it was.

"Hi Al. Can I come in?"

"Of course." Albus was an oddly formal young boy, but he was usually quite a sweetheart towards Aurora because of how she protected Lily the way James was supposed to. Instead of lingering for a discussion, Aurora bolted up the stairs and blasted past James and headed straight for Lily's room.

"Afternoon Auror-" James had enough time to say before she had disappeared.

* * *

Aurora knew Lily had a fire in her bedroom. It was one of the odd things about the Potter household: almost every room had a fire in it: every room except the study.

"Hi Lils, can't talk right now, can I borrow your fire?"

"Yeah, sure," Lily said as Aurora shut the door behind her.

"Cheers. I don't suppose you want to come to Italy?"

"You're going to Italy?"

"Yeah, I know transatlantic apparation is a pain in the ass, but I got it sorted."

"How? Are you apparating?"

"Somebody I was staying with has strings in the Ministry. He pulled a few for me. And no, I have to call a house elf from the manor, but it'll be quick."

"Alright. Get on with it."

* * *

"Dad! Please just let me go!"

"Lily Luna Potter, you will not be apparating to Italy all by yourself!"

"Aurora is a perfectly responsible adult! She's seventeen years old, Dad, plus she's Head Girl of Slytherin! She's an excellent Seer too – she wouldn't let me go with her if she knew something would go wrong!"

"Lily, you are thirteen years old! You're only in your third year at Hogwarts, think about how this will affect your school grades!"

"Dad, you spent your school years chasing after Voldemort! I don't think I should have to worry about my exams in my third year at school, and even if I should, I shouldn't have to hear it from you! Plus, Aurora's super smart and she knows lots of people so if she can't help me, she knows somebody who can."

"You're not going, Lily Luna, and that is final!"

Lily stormed away from her father and back into her bedroom and promptly performed a complex locking spell that Charlie had taught her to master in her second year.

"Lily, don't you dare. Did you hear what your father said?" Aurora snapped loudly, but her voice softened considerably as she finished with what Lily though was going to be a threat, "I hope you've packed a bag, Lily. You're coming with me. My mother's expecting both of us. You don't disappoint Madame Bianchi, no matter who your parents are."

* * *

The house elf whisked the two of them off to the Bianchi Manor and landed them perfectly on the porch outside. The horizon was covered in thick duvets of snow, masking the usual recognisable features of the hills.

"Mistress Bianchi is expecting you two."

Aurora bit her lip. _I am the worst influence, aren't I? _She thought.

"Ah, my dear, how was your term? I didn't get a single letter from my one and _only_ daughter. I got a fair few from your school and teachers though," Her mother had begun her descent down the staircase. Aurora hoped the stupid, flimsy and wispy fabrics she so frequently adorned herself with would just trip her mother up. She did prefer her mother over her father, but that didn't mean that she hated her mother's stupid outfits any less.

"It was fine, Mother," Aurora snapped, "This is Lily. She's had problems at home and she's staying here with me over the holidays and for the rest of the holidays until it's resolved."

Lily offered her hand to Aurora's mum to shake. She looked exactly the same to Aurora, only older and with one eye blue instead of grey. Lily guessed that the grey came from her dad.

"You could've asked, at least darling."

Aurora hastily rattled something off in French, and her mother replied in Italian.

"How many times have I told you not speak that language in this place?" Her mother snapped, this time in English.

"Oh, give it up Mother. No-one cares if I use French or English or Italian!"

"I do and this is my house so you do as I tell you!"

Aurora begrudgingly replied in Italian. Once her mother had smiled and nodded, she switched to English to address Lily.

"I'll show you to one of the spare rooms, follow me." Aurora left her trunk beside the door and Lily followed her example. Aurora led her up two flights of stairs and down three corridors before reaching the room Lily would be taking.

"I figured I should just put you right opposite me. For convenience. The house elf'll be up in a sec with your stuff."

"Thank you."

"No problem, honey."

"Do you think I overreacted?" Lily asked quietly.

"No, I think you've learnt well. I am Queen of Overreacting, maybe you could be my Princess."

Lily laughed. "Thanks. By the way, I voted for you. For head of house."

"Thank you." Aurora smiled graciously. She omitted what she was going to say about how pretty much everybody voted for her.

"No problem. Tessa would never get my vote, even if she had been nominated. She's done so little for the house, all in all. You gave us a structure. It's nice."

"Oh, you should've seen the mess I went through in first year. Terrible. You should get ready for bed now, cheeky."

"Do I have to?" Lily whined.

Aurora laughed. "Of course not. Go to bed when you want. I'll have to introduce you to the library tomorrow, if you want. If it's not snowing in the afternoon, we could probably go skiing!"

* * *

**A/N:** Lots happened here! As always, a review would be super nice because I spent lots of time on this and there are only six more chapters left after this. Sorry about not updating last night, but I was absolutely shattered and I just wanted to go to bed. I have my first exam in nine days, so I might be missing a couple of 'regular' Friday updates or so.  
**Disclaimer: **I don't own the Harry Potter universe. My OC's and the plot are the only things I can take any form of credit for.


	17. hold

hold

"i'm sorry that you never made it," - wires, the neighbourhood.

Aurora blew on her black nail polish as she wished for it to dry. She reapplied another coat as she waited for Lily to pack her things up and finish talking with her mother about Divination. Lily had soaked up all of this knowledge like a little ginger sponge and she had evidently loved all of the attention she had been getting from Aurora's mother.

The snow in Italy wouldn't start melting until at least mid February at the very earliest, but Lily had been surprised by how deep it had been when Aurora had kitted her up to go outside and build a snowman. It was always cold, but it hadn't stopped snowing until that one glorious day when the winter sun reflected onto the snow and almost burnt Lily's fair skin into a crisp. Aurora was better suited for the sunshine, as she tanned the more often she was exposed. Lily knew James would be swooning all over Aurora as soon as he first saw her back, and Aurora's confidence grew and grew for some reason.

"So where were you in the first week?" Lily had asked as she thawed out in front of the fire in Aurora's room.

"Nowhere in particular, sweetie. I met a cute Muggle boy and I guess time just flew by. Then I remembered I had to go to my dad's place, which sucked. You know what happened there."

Aurora smiled softly; she had told Lily an abbreviated story of all the things that were strictly on a need to know basis.

"Yeah. Come on, 'Rora. We haven't had a decent enough chat lately, have we? Can you help with my divination work?"

Aurora smiled apologetically, "Of course. You know how taxing this head of house stuff is. So much organisation to do, so little time."

"You're not taking many NEWTs: you have lots of spare time."

Aurora frowned, "Yeah. Of course. Lots of spare time." She said flatly before sitting back down on her bed.

"Aur-"

"No, I get it. I'm dumb. I know. I can't pay attention - I can't read properly. I get it. I'm only useful for fucking Divination, and the only reason I'm alright at that is because of my mother."

"Aurora, I didn't mean it like that, I just meant tha-"

"Please don't try and explain yourself, Lily. There's no point. You're not helping."

"Sorry."

* * *

Aurora and Lily apparated back to Hogsmeade and proceeded to Floo into Hogwarts from Spintwitches, since Tony was back on shift again. Aurora waved him a flamboyant hello and Lily was a little more reserved with her wave.

The Floo ban on the Slytherin common room had been lifted, for any students who flooed in from their grand country houses. Aurora was pretty much doing the same thing, except her country house was her normal home, and the minor problem that she had effectively kidnapped the sole daughter of the Chosen One. That hadn't helped her unlikely nerves.

Aurora let Lily through first and followed her. She arrived into the common room to find it barren, except for Lily.

"Where is everybody?"

"How do you expect me to know? Maybe there's a meeting or something," Lily sighed.

"Anyways, it's late. I'm going to bed."

"You just got here, 'Rora."

"And I'm tired. Transatlantic flooing doesn't do me any favours, especially with the time differences. Night, I'll see you in the morning."

"Night, 'Rora."

* * *

Aurora found the dorm was empty too. She cherished the silence as she unpacked her small bag. She hadn't taken much out with her that night at the Moon, but she had brought a few things from home to school. All were protected with countless spells to allow only herself to touch them, but Aurora still shut them away in the locker underneath her bed.

She laid out her uniform over her headboard and half an hour later, shut the curtains around her bed to keep in the warmth and prying eyes out.

* * *

Aurora waited outside Astrology with her classmates.

"How were your holidays?" Was the most common question throughout the hallways of Hogwarts, every time Aurora was asked, she gave each person a new piece of information.

"Oh, great. Went to a couple of parties. Nothing serious. Did you get anything good from your parents?"

Aurora's mother didn't celebrate Christmas - she was more interested with the winter solstice. Lily had heard the whole story several times over while she stayed with Aurora, but she didn't mind.

Aurora remained courteous and asked people how their holidays were in return. Alenna followed her around like a little sheep until she had to go off to her own lessons. She fetched Aurora things she needed, and in return, Aurora made sure nothing bad happened to her protégé.

"Come in, guys. How many times have I told you not to wait?" Professor Swan asked as the class slowly shuffled in. His cheeks flushed as soon as he saw Aurora. She wasn't paying any attention to him, rather, it seemed that she was avoiding looking at him. Instead, she laughed with Fred Weasley over the state of James' new haircut.

"Aw, look at you, Ginger! You're so cute. Although you do resemble a sheep that's just been sheared!"

James blushed as his cousin laughed. Nate's class sat down and he struggled to begin the lesson. He could barely look at the class without wanting to pass out in embarrassment. It was like they knew. Like they knew about what he'd done to the girl in the back of the classroom. She could at least behave normally, although Nate was pretty certain she had put up this kind of charade before. If he closed his eyes and thought really, really hard, he could see her in the early hours of the mornings they spent together, kissing him and holding him and everything that hurt now, that he'd cherished back then.

"Is it hot in here, or is it me?" He asked the class, trying to make his tone sound light. He yanked a window open and stuck his head out. Now he was sure they knew. Oh - they really did know. All looking at him like he had really lost his marbles over the holidays. Perhaps he hadn't lost them; perhaps somebody had stolen them.

"Are you sure you're feeling alright, Prof? You look a bit tired." Fred Weasley asked, genuinely sounding worried for once.

"I think I might go and throw up," Nate half-laughed at his sense of reasoning.

"Is class over?" Somebody else asked. Male.

"Uh - yeah. Go and study in the Library. Tell anybody who asks I'm too ill and there wasn't time for cover."

Most of the class cleared. Aurora remained behind; the one person he didn't want to see.

"What do you want, Aurora?" He asked, his mouth feeling dry.

"Oh my god, you really are a mess, aren't you?" She whispered as he struggled to push himself off of the window frame. She hauled the window down and Nate felt himself sweating again. Her hand was warm against his forehead as she checked his temperature.

"Merlin, you're burning up. Bed. Now. Go on, I don't want you telling me you have some marking to do. It can wait. You've got a fever and you're not teaching until you're better."

"I don't think I have the energy to get to bed," Nate protested as he flopped onto Aurora.

"Bamboccione," she muttered as she dragged him to his room.

"What are you doing," he muttered, half out of it as she began to unbutton his shirt.

"Taking your shirt off so you don't boil alive."

"But I'm so cold."

"Lift." Aurora pulled the shirt out from underneath him. "Do you want the trousers on or off when the nurse gets here?"

"I don't care," he whispered as she pulled his shoes off.

"Off it is then." She quickly undid his trousers and wiggled them down his legs. She wrapped him up with more than enough blankets and folded his clothes. "Don't you dare move your blankets, or I will hang you out of a window by your foot when you're better."

"You - don't have - the upper body strength," Nate said quietly, emitting a hushed dry laugh.

"I know plenty of people who do. Now shut up and go to sleep, bambino."

"Okay," Nate mouthed. He didn't drift off automatically; he could hardly sleep with Aurora there.

* * *

Aurora sat down next to James in Herbology. He hadn't expected her to be as willing as she was to learn the theory behind Venomous Tentacula, but her furious note taking throughout the session just reminded him how much that he needed to keep up with her. towards the end of the session, her hand raised and she pouted in what James could only liken to confusion. She was cute when she was confused.

"Yes Aurora?" Professor Longbottom said amusedly from his seat at the front of the desk.

Aurora's pout stiffened and she turned neutral for a moment. "Nothing. I understand it now."

James' godfather frowned but went back to his marking.

James loitered towards the end of the lesson with the intent to speak to Professor Longbottom about his latest essay when he found himself competing with Aurora for his attention.

"After you, James," she smiled graciously and let James step in front of her. She hadn't been eager to go up to the desk, but neither had James. Both of them had lingered behind at the end of the lesson, even to the extent where they had constantly made awkward eye contact with the other.

"Uh - I've got to get to Potions tutoring. Can I talk about this later?"

"Of course, James. How can I help you, Aurora?"

Aurora eyed James until he left the classroom.

"Professor, I was wondering if there was any work I could do - outside of class - to maybe help me in the exam?"

Neville Longbottom's famed eyebrow rose. He only ever made that face when something had really stumped him, or surprised him. Aurora asking him for help had done both.

"Yes, I was intending to set this as homework for the rest of the class next week, but if you want to do extra assignments for extra help, then I don't see why I can't give you it early. Here."

He handed Aurora a question sheet and she smiled as she tucked it into her shoulder bag. "Thanks, Prof. I'll see you next lesson."

* * *

Aurora had been sat in the common room with Lysander and Elliot for hours, and the three of them had only just begin to play explosive snap when Tessa walked in. Aurora was trying, and hopefully succeeding in keeping her extra work hidden from everybody else in her house. Keeping it hidden from the rest of the school wouldn't be difficult for her either.

"Oh, look at that! Aurora's playing with her little groupies!" Tessa laughed. Her laugh was the same nasally sound it had always been. Several heads turned at the exclamation, but many didn't look up. Aurora held more power over the Slytherins than Tessa did, but Tessa was trying to get hold of them. "She couldn't be more of a whore if she tried! Look at her, leading those two on," Aurora's jaw tightened. She allowed her hair to fall over her face as she waited patiently for the cards to match up. "She doesn't know how to care for anybody, does she?" Nobody replied, not even Charlie.

_Give me a premonition right about now, please._ Aurora thought. _I know it doesn't work like that, but please._

"She couldn't even have a relationship with that James Potter and he follows her around like a little yapping puppy!"

Aurora turned to face Tessa. She slid the card out of her hand and pressed it down on the increasing pile of upturned cards that had formed in the centre of the table, "Snap."

There was a chorus of 'oohs' around the room, but nobody said anything as Aurora strutted past Charlie and Tessa. Nobody had been sure of quite what Aurora had meant when she had said 'snap', but the deck hadn't exploded. However, Tessa looked as though she was going to.

* * *

Professor Longbottom was trying to fix his tie when there was a tiny knock on his door.

"Uh - come in."

Aurora opened the door, slid inside and shut it behind her. "Hi Professor. I finished what you set me yesterday. I was wondering if you had anything new for me to do."

"Oh! You went through that quickly. I don't have anything to hand, Aurora, but come back at the end of lessons and I should have you something a little more... challenging." Professor Longbottom smiled sincerely and took Aurora's work from her.

* * *

Aurora poured herself another mug of peppermint tea as she waited for Professor Swan to arrive. She had acknowledged that letting herself in to his rooms without invitation was a little bit rude, but she had quickly passed the thought. She had been at school for almost a whole week now, and she had done every single assignment that Professor Longbottom had given her in a twenty four hour turnover. She had finished the latest task and was quick to escape the Library and get out from under Rose Weasley's glare and talk to Nate again.

"Aurora?" Nate asked hopefully as Aurora stirred her tea. She could feel his breath tickle the hairs on the back of her neck.

"Hiya," She muttered, glancing over to see the corner of his face.

"What's up?"

"I'm alright," Aurora said, wincing as she scalded her tongue. Nate closed the gap between the two of them within a fraction of a second.

"You sure? You seem a little out of it, if I'm going to be honest."

Aurora hardly hesitated as her mug of tea dropped into the sink and fractured into a blue mosaic. Nate was kissing her back - there was no mistaking that. She held him closer and closer until their bodies entwined to form one.

"Aurora," Nate muttered into her hair.

Aurora smiled and her head reached towards the stars as he kissed her neck again.

"I shouldn't, should I?" She asked quietly.

"Do what?" Nate asked as he hesitated.

"This. Oh." She sighed in delight, but then muttered against his shoulder, "I'm sorry."

"Hey, hey," Nate lifted her head up and cupped her face in his hands. "What are you worrying about?"

"It's just I can't do this - I can't, Nate."

"Do what?"

"Me and this and the stupid teacher relationships I always end up having. It hurts, when I watch them go away and be happy with somebody else. Oh," she whispered as her muscles pulled taut and she began to cry.

"Shh, shh," Nate whispered as he held her to his chest, "What are you fretting about?"

"I always fall for the ones that are older than me, don't I? I can't help it, Nate. I'm sorry. I can't help it. At all. I just hate all of the boys that are my own age - they're all so young and fucking juvenile. I'm so sorry."

* * *

**A/N:**   
_'Bamboccione' _- 'big baby'  
_'bambino'_ - 'baby'  
I'm moving the story along pretty quickly at this point and I know there's no real timeframe mentioned, but things are going to pick up and fly right on by soon! There are only four more chapters after this, and lots happens next chapter!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the Harry Potter universe. My OC's and the plot are the only things I can take any form of credit for.


	18. prepared

prepared

"when you turn to leave, he will use your name like a choke chain," – lessons on loving a prophet, jeanann verlee

Aurora just knew her day was going to be terrible when it started with an owl dropping a letter straight into her cornflakes. She quickly snapped it up before it could soak through and ruin the message. She pushed her thumb through the seal and unfolded the parchment.

'Party at the Room of Requirement at 9pm, tomorrow night.' Aurora sighed and shredded the parchment. She wasn't interested in going to a party, she wanted to get her Herbology assignment finished, but she was so close to finishing, chances were that it would be done by lunchtime.

* * *

"Aurora! Did you get my owl?" Lysander asked as they lined up outside Herbology the next morning.

"Which one?" She asked lazily, barely looking up from her nails.

"The invitation. I sent one out to almost every single sixth year there is," The hope in Lysander's voice evaporated, "You are coming tonight, aren't you?"

Aurora's voice deadpanned, "Yeah. Sure. I'll see you there. Do you need any help getting ready?"

"Nah, I've got some man power available already. They volunteered ages ago."

"Really? Who is i-" Aurora looked up as Lysander turned away to greet his twin brother, Louis and Fred Weasley and James Potter.

"Hey guys!" Lysander said to his new group of friends. "Are you excited?"

"Excited?" Fred replied, "Dude, we're bouncing off the walls in anticipation!"

Aurora sighed a little too loudly.

"What's her problem?" Lorcan asked, gesturing towards Aurora.

"Nothing much, I think. She's a bit -" Lysander began.

"Annoyed that other people are treating her as though she doesn't have a tongue," Her voice dripped with acid, "It's an _absolute_ pleasure to see you boys again." She swivelled and marched into Herbology without so much as looking back. She sat in her normal seat beside James and watched as he hesitated between sitting next to her or with his new found friend.

* * *

"What's the problem, Aurora?" James asked under his breath since she hadn't spoken to him since the incident out in the corridor. He had usually been on the receiving end of a hundred insults if she was in a regular mood.

"Nothing, James. Just ignore me."

James couldn't help his smile. She had called him by his name. It seemed like such a trivial thing to be smiling over; at least that was how James thought it looked. She was finally softening up to the idea of maybe even being friends with him.

* * *

Aurora hesitated as she poured herself another drink. She was going to need a lot to drown what had happened with Nate out of her mind. She didn't need those kinds of memories at school, not when she had to see him on a regular basis and pretend things were okay. Not when she, the infallible Aurora Bianchi had actually fallen for somebody. Her heart jumped in her chest as she mixed what was left in the vodka bottle with whatever was left in her cup. She just needed to remind herself that she was in control.

"Are you intending to drink all of that, Bianchi?" A disapproving sneer said from behind her. "Your liver's never going to cope, you know."

"Sorry Teresa," Aurora snapped, "But I don't think you should be the higher power when it comes to how much alcohol I should be consuming. And maybe if it packs up, I'd never have to see you again and in this case the reward is higher than the cost."

"Oh, shut up you useless bitch!" Tessa tossed her hair over her shoulder and stormed off, leaving Aurora with her self-satisfied smirk.

* * *

Aurora leant on the wall at the party. She didn't want to be part of the action today. Instead, she was choosing to sit on the sidelines and observe. The strobe lights burned her eyes and the smell of spilt alcohol stripped away the back of her throat.

"Didn't expect to find you here," A familiar voice muttered as the accompanying body sidled up next to her.

"What do you want?"

"I just wanted to know why you aren't in the action, grinding on your Potter boy?"

"I'm pretty sure your darling girlfriend is being a decent enough replacement for me, even if her technique is incredibly sloppy."

Charlie ignored the blunt attack on his girlfriend. He didn't want to date Tessa, or even be associated with her any more, but Aurora was one of the few people who could see straight through his pleasant façade and utilised it.

"Or are all these guys a little young for you?"

"I've asked you once, Charles. If I have to ask again after this, it's going to come with a swift kick to your balls. What do you want?"

"There's a head of house and prefect meeting tomorrow at seven in here. If you want to propose any changes to the new prefect timetable, speak now."

"I would if I'd even seen it, you tosser."

"That was rude. Don't make me report you to Longbottom."

"If you're not careful, when I get my hands on this new prefect timetable, I'm going to take the liberty of rolling it up tight enough so it can cram past your head when I shove it up your arse."

Charlie bit back his smile, "I had India put it on your bed before the party started. It should be there when you get back."

"Thank you. If you'll excuse me, I have to go and talk to somebody," She replied curtly.

"Goodbye then, Aurora."

"Arrivederci," she hissed, before she could take the chance to stop herself.

* * *

James waited for Aurora to see him in the corner of her vision and for her attention to move to him. He stood alone in the corner, shifting from foot to foot in what looked like an attempt to calm himself.

"James," She smiled as she approached him, "How are you?"

His heart fluttered as she ran her hand up his bicep. She smiled again, although softer, as he struggled to speak.

"Maybe we should go somewhere else," she said quietly as she looped her arm through his and casually strolled off. James could hardly believe it. She was smiling so easily and she breezed past her old friends with a nonchalant wave. He managed to walk alongside her without tripping up once, which wasn't an easy feat. Aurora smiled again as she sat down next to James on the bench just outside the doorway to the party room, although they were still hidden in the Room of Requirement.

"So, how are you?" She asked as she crossed her legs up.

"I'm - alright, I guess. How are you?"

"Are you sure? I'm okay though, thanks. I guess."

"What do you mean: are you sure?"

She laughed, throwing her hair back, "What do you think I mean? I've noticed you, James. I always had. Ever since first year, James, I noticed you - and not because of your bloody parents."

James found himself almost incapable of speaking, "How - Why - What do you mean?"

"If I was to answer your questions consecutively, then: you were in three quarters of my classes, it was hard not to. I don't know why I did. I guess I just did. What do I mean? I know how you look at me. I'm not blind."

"Oh. Why did you date Charlie then?"

She shrugged, "I don't know, convenience? He was constantly there, and I mean _constantly_. I didn't have to leave him to go to different common rooms every night. Plus, I doubt you'd want to be seen dead with a Slytherin, of all. We were worse than Hufflepuffs back then."

James laughed drily, "I would want to be seen dead with you."

Aurora took her turn to laugh, "I doubt it. I can still remember what you said to my housemates, all those years ago."

"You remembered that, after all those years?"

"Non dimenticherò mai, bambino. How could I? The way you used his heritage against him. He told me about what insults you threw at him all school term, and even then I couldn't forget. Then I asked mama if she would let me have friends over, and she was cautious about it, but she was glad I'd at least met somebody and befriended them, after all that happened, I don't think I could ever forget, James."

"Would it help if I said I'm sorry?"

"Maybe, if you'd said it all those years ago. But even then, you shouldn't say it to me. It's not me you insulted."

"Can I just ask, Aurora: who was it I insulted?"

She laughed again, "You really should remember this, of all the people. Only one person's really risen above you, after all these years."

"Charlie?"

"Yes, the one and only."

"Oh, Merlin."

"Yep. That's why he hates you, and one of the many reasons I stayed with him for so long."

"Because I insulted him? That seems stupid."

She giggled, "No, because he hadn't purposefully hurt somebody he didn't know, like you did. Not then. He was barely into Quidditch back then, and I was still little. Very little," She brushed her hair out of her face, "He was kind. Once upon a time."

"So, what happened?"

"He changed. I changed. We grew up. We were both only staying together for the mere convenience of the relationship: he was so possessive of me that when I was out of his sight or his touch, he'd lie to his friends and tell them that I was with him. It allowed me to do what I wanted."

"Didn't you see that happening? His whole neediness problem?"

"It was nice. To feel wanted, I mean, but it was too late for me by the time we were together and he never really let go."

"How did you even get into that kind of situation, Aurora?" James asked as he pushed the lock of hair that really was getting on Aurora's nerves out of her eye. Her cheek was damp and her eyes red as she stared down at her hands, clasped in her lap.

"He treated me like a queen, James. And I trusted him," She whispered as she turned to face him. Before he even knew it, she was kissing him.

"I don't want to take advantage of you, Aurora."

"And what if I want you to?" she whispered into his ear.

"I won't let you."

Her lips quirked into a smile.

"But neither am I going to let you slip through my fingers," he whispered as his fingers brushed under her chin, tilting her face back up to his. "Hogsmeade is soon. Do you want to come with me?"

Aurora smiled lazily at James between kisses, "Yeah. I would."

* * *

Aurora sighed. Her day had been exhausting and she was still nursing her hangover from the party the night before. The day had begun with a meeting with the Head Girl, who was an erratic handful all by herself. Then there had been the meeting with the other heads of houses and head boy and girl. Sophia still hadn't calmed down after her episode on Aurora, so she was gritting her teeth and holding the table so hard her knuckles almost vaporised as Charlie spoke so slowly Aurora thought the world had stopped spinning.

Finally, there had been meeting with prefects. Aurora and Rose Weasley had got off on the wrong foot many years ago, and this was not to be a great working relationship between the two of them, even if they did mostly behave, neither of them really got along, and both pretended the other didn't exist during the meetings. Aurora didn't admit defeat, and it had seemed to Aurora that Rose was not going to co-operate with the new schedule without a fight.

"So what if the schedule is changing? Your duties are exactly the same," Aurora said as she slapped her hand down on the table.

"I just feel as though some people have been wronged by this schedule. Look at the Slytherins - pulling all of the harder shifts! It's ridiculous!" She objected, her voice two octaves higher than it had been to start off.

Aurora knew all about Rose and Scorpius' relationship, after she had threatened to wrangle the truth out of Scorpius one night when he came back two hours late from duties with his hair ruined and his uniform in a state. Rose had no idea that Aurora knew about their relationship, and that was Aurora's upper hand in the argument.

"No, you're not worried about the whole of Slytherin house, are you Rose?" Aurora hissed. Scorpius frowned. He had chosen to sit directly next to Aurora and he was beginning to regret it. "Just one specific member, now you two don't have the same duties at the same times."

Rose Weasley's cheeks went from being the colour of her hair to the colour of a sheet of parchment in an instant. "How dare you accuse me of such things? I won't have it!"

The seven other Heads of Houses looked at Aurora in amusement. She had the talent for staying calm when deep in trouble, and they all thought it was really reflecting when it came to Aurora getting the more hot-headed prefects in line.

"No, Miss _Weasley_. How are prefects supposed to stop other students who are out of bed after curfew to meet their partners in other houses if our prefects are the ones canoodling in the closet before they've even tucked up to go to bed?" Aurora's voice was laden with practiced authority.

"I don't care, it's not fair. You shouldn't have changed it."

"She didn't change it, Miss Weasley," A voice snapped from the doorway, "I did, after I had reports of several groups of prefects bunking off to do different duties. From now on, there will be no patrolling with a member of the opposite sex. We've had far too many incidents reported from other students, your heads of house - we can't even blind the teachers. I would like you to respect that Miss Bianchi has been responsible enough to report her knowledge back to me on this matter, and that if I hear any more negative news of you, I'll get your prefect position revoked. Do you understand?"

Rose tried to appear contrite and nodded solemnly, "Of course, Charlie. I'm sorry." But not before shooting Aurora a dark glare.

Aurora smiled a cloying little smirk back. She stiffened a little as Charlie leant over her chair, but she was certain that had been entirely psychological on her part. His hand brushed up against her shoulder as somebody knocked on the door and his hand dropped in surprise.

"Meeting over. Stick to the new schedule or I'll set Peeves to monitor you." Charlie smiled as the group's notes convened in the centre of the round table and all got up to leave the room. He smiled at Aurora as she passed by and she felt his hand on her back as he guided her to the door.

"Thank you," she whispered, longing for Charlie to embrace her and tell her everything was fine and that he was so, so sorry and that they should never, ever be apart again. But that didn't happen. Instead, Tessa shot in. She bulleted past Aurora and into Charlie's arms, and Aurora was supposed to be happy with James. _James._

"Why didn't you tell me you had a meeting?" Tessa whined.

Charlie glanced over at Aurora. "I thought I had told you?"

* * *

Aurora spent her evening lazing about and hopelessly waiting for it to be late enough for her to have a good excuse to go to bed.

"Aren't you worried that Rose is going to try and get you for that obvious comment about her and Scorpius in the broom closets?" Lysander asked as he gorged himself on a piece of cake Elliot had brought back from the kitchens.

"She's about four foot tall and overweight, Xand. The only way she's even going to get near to me is if I don't see her coming, and I don't think that's possible."

* * *

A/N:  
_'Non dimenticherò mai, bambino.'_ – I never forget, baby. As always; reviews would be nice because this story will be over soon. **Next chapter:** Hogsmeade and more of Aurora's mother.  
**Disclaimer: **I don't own the Harry Potter universe. My OC's and the plot are the only things I can take any form of credit for.


	19. heartbeat

heartbeat

"i'm in the details with the devil, so now the world can never get me on my level," – my songs know what you did in the dark, fall out boy.

"Oh my god, James, you are so stupid! You know that, right?" Fred called as James threw his clothes up to find something clean for his date with Aurora the next day. "Just find something that you think she'll like and go and ask the elves to wash it for you for the morning. You know they'll do it for you."

"I can't find this other shoe though! I need this other shoe!"

"Is Jamesie still obsessing over his date with Aurora?" Louis laughed as he walked in to the dormitory. He slung his magazine onto his bed and quickly flattened it with his body.

"Of course he is."

"Come on, guys! How long has it been since I first liked Aurora?"

"I don't know, five or six years? It's been so long that I think we've all just got used to it."

"Then you know how important this is to me!"

"Yeah, we know it's _important,_ Jamesie Pie. Maybe you can finally stop wishing that she was there while you wank."

James threw his one shoe at his older cousin, "Piss off. And give that back, you bastard."

"You were the one that threw it! Merlin, calm down! She's always late; don't worry about getting there on time."

"I want to be there on time, in case you hadn't noticed! Listen, this is important to me. Just get that through your seemingly impenetrable skull and acknowledge that Aurora and I are going out on a date!"

"Fine. You're going out with Aurora. I get it. We get it. I think the _house elves_ got it. But I doubt you'll be getting any tonight."

James picked up his shoes in a huff and stormed down the stairs; his sock-clad piggies betrayed him by making as little sound as they could as he tried to stomp loudly.

* * *

James dashed down to the entrance hall and found it easy to locate Aurora. She stood to the side, wistfully staring off into the distance. "Aurora?" He asked hesitantly as he approached her. "Sorry, have I kept you waiting?" She smiled gently and shook her head, her hair lifting as she moved. "Oh. Wow." He breathed as he let himself take in her appearance. She smiled again, although it looked a little stretched in comparison. "Nice socks." James laughed nervously. "Right, shall we sign out and head into town?" He noted her look of displeasure, "Or we could stay here and may-" "No, I'd like to go out." She said quietly. James found her hesitance disconcerting.

"Oh-okay," He said.

Aurora started walking off quickly, as though she had seen something she didn't like and that she was fleeing it. James wasn't so quick to catch on, and he felt somebody taller than him put a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to face Charlie.

"Hello Charlie. How can I help you?" James asked, trying to appear bouncy.

"James. I just so happened to hear on the _grapevine_ that you're going out with Aurora today. Good luck, she's a tough nut to crack," Charlie leant in and hissed the rest of his speech, "There's one thing you've overlooked about Aurora, James. She'll touch your life for a fleeting second, and she makes you drowsy. She'll get bored, and she will leave you, so you'll wake back up to your life in a golden blaze."

"What?"

Charlie laughed before turning away and leaving, "Oh, I wonder why she's even considering being with a piece of shit like _you_."

* * *

James had to jog to catch up with Aurora after she had walked off without him. Aurora smiled at him again. She sensed that she was disturbing him a little with her constant stream of dreamy smiles but she couldn't help it. The shouting match she'd had with Charlie the night before had dragged her voice out and she was absolutely exhausted. Charlie had, naturally, been furious about her date with James. What had ensued had scared every single member of Slytherin house as each had taken turns in ripping the other to shreds.

"Where do you want to go?" James asked as he offered her his arm.

She smiled again and took his arm, as she had already been through this date in her nightmares, just the very night before. It had descended into both of them getting eaten by snakes, but that was more because of Aurora's last comment to Charlie being about snakes.

"I don't mind, honestly. I'll have to drop by Rosa's later to see if Mother wants a chat, but that's all."

"Alright. How does Honeydukes sound?"

Aurora smiled again, "Sounds great. Lead the way."

* * *

Aurora and James left Honeydukes twenty minutes later, each with small paper bags of sweets in tow. The crowd of Hogwarts students had thinned considerably in that time as most people had decided where they wanted to go.

A small, translucent silver owl dropped down in front of Aurora, making James jump.

"Hey there cutie. What's up?" Aurora crooned as she reached forward to pat the specter on the head.

The owl hissed something in a language James didn't understand, but Aurora nodded and replied in what James thought must have been the same language.

"Sorry, James. I've got to go and talk to my mother - Unless you want to come with me?"

James stared at Aurora. Did she really like him that much? "Yeah, sure, I mean why not?"

"Excellent. I'm glad you're up to meeting her. I should warn you in advance, she is a little bit crazy," Aurora beamed as she took James' arm, "When I say a little, I mean she's absolutely loco crazy, but she's alright once you get used to her. I wonder what was so important that she needed to come and talk to me at school. Just a heads up: don't drink tea around her. Or coffee. Water is the better bet."

James found himself being marched past all his friends and relatives of varying distances up to Rosa Lee's. The place was known for having the craziest customers in all of Hogsmeade, but while James was trying to look past that prejudice, he couldn't help but think that Aurora was not doing the clientele any favours.

* * *

"Morning Yvonne," Aurora called as she entered the Hogsmeade branch of 'Rosa Lee's Teabag' with James. The bell above the door hissed as the door shut loudly.

"Hush now Gurt," Aurora whispered and the bell growled in response.

"Your mammy's upstairs again, love," An elderly lady said from behind several self-boiling teapots.

"Thanks Yvonne."

"Who's this young lad then?" Yvonne asked as Aurora put her foot on the first step of the stairs.

"Oh! I almost forgot!" Aurora employed an overly apologetic tone that James instantly detected as fake, "This is James. He's my boyfriend."

James looked at Aurora in disbelief for a moment and then shook Yvonne's proffered hand.

"What happened with you an' that Charlie boy then?"

Aurora's face suggested that this was the last thing that she wanted to talk about, but she was polite enough to dignify the question with a response. "It kind of just fell apart between us. I don't think there was any one cause."

"Alright. I'll see you kids later."

"Yeah, see you later," Aurora called from the stairwell.

* * *

"Aurora honey!"

Aurora's description of her mother had given James a mental image that really didn't honour what her mother truly looked like. He had been expecting crazy, constantly messed up hair, wrinkled skin, a couple of missing teeth, perhaps a hunched over back and a mole on the end of her nose. James found the real version of Aurora's mother to be a lot easier on the eyes. In reality, Aurora's mother was tall with long, dark hair, similar to Aurora's but straight. Her eyes were also different colours, but they were not the exact same colours as Aurora's were. When she smiled and started talking, James thought that she was incredibly nice and she seemed very gentle as she offered James a cup of tea.

"No thank you, Mrs Bianchi. Can I get a glass of water instead?"

"Of course dear. Now," Aurora's mother looked over to her daughter, "Whatever happened between you and Charlie last night, dear? I got an owl about it from your Deputy Head of House, that weaselly Swan gentleman. Are you going to tell me what you were screaming at him this time?"

"We got in an argument, as we always have done. It's nothing major, Mother," Aurora smoothed down her leather skirt, "And if it was, I would be saving it for the holidays."

"Oh, that also reminds me, I got an owl from your Headmaster a few weeks back, but you're thinking of sitting your NEWT examinations in sixth year?"

Aurora glanced over at James, "One or two, like Muggle Studies and Divination. I'd stay on to study during seventh year, but mainly as an apprentice to Professor Trelawney."

"Yes, yes. I also got sent copies of all the letters of recommendation from all your teachers? Is this true, or did you cheat in your tests?"

"Mother!" Aurora yelped as she leant forward, "What are you even talking about?"

"Your Herbology teacher has proclaimed here that you have started doing extra work outside of class and your grade has gone from being 'Dreadful' to 'Outstanding' in a matter of weeks! Excuse your poor mother for almost having a heart attack when she discovered this."

Aurora's tone suggested that she was holding something back, "Yes, it is true. I don't have anything better to do than do schoolwork at the moment, Maman. Almost everyone in my house is incredibly boring at the moment."

"Well, if I sign this sheet saying I give my permission for you to do early exams, are you going to get distracted again?"

"Nope."

"Are you sure?" Mrs Bianchi looked pointedly at James.

"Mother! Exams over boys, I know that, listen I just need to –"

"Miss Aurora? There's a boy down here who is very insistent on talking to you!" Yvonne called from outside the room.

Aurora stood up instantly and ignored her mother's attempts at sitting her back down and left the room.

"Aurora, whatever am I going to do with you?" Mrs Bianchi sighed and poured herself another cup of tea.

James tittered nervously as he sipped his water.

"Is something funny?"

"No – No, I'm just used to seeing her in class all the time and she's been like this. You think she's intently focused on something, but it turns out that she's distracted by everything. It's impossible to really capture her attention."

"You have an interest in my daughter, don't you?" Aurora's mother asked.

James replied, despite it sounding more like a statement, "Yes. I guess I do."

"Well, I must warn you of one thing: Aurora's never been the same as most children. When I was married to her father, we lived amongst the muggles," Mrs Bianchi topped up his water and continued speaking,  
"Aurora was Marina back then, and her father was doing the washing up. She had displayed some more magic and it scared her father into grabbing a knife. He screamed at her to call an ambulance because he was on a warning from the Ministry after performing badly hidden magic in Muggle sight. This is what Ben told me: she stared at him with eyes larger than galleons and then picked up the phone, dialled so calmly that he thought that she was out of it, and announced to the operator, 'I request an ambulance for 11 Rudge Lane, Oare.' And that was that!"

James frowned, "What's the point of that story?"

"Aurora's never been like other children. She never will be. Just – be careful of how you handle her. I think she likes to bottle things up, and she's known to explode sometimes."

The door opened and Aurora returned looking pale and slightly rumpled. James barely had any time to say goodbye to Aurora's mother as Aurora rattled something in French and dragged him down the stairs.

"What was all that about?" James asked as he finally retrieved the back of his t-shirt from Aurora's fist.

"It's – nothing – she just makes me feel weird sometimes and I didn't want to be about if she started to gargle a prophecy," Aurora said quickly. "You know? I can tell these things, it's genetic."

James smiled gently and took Aurora's hand in his. "So I'm your boyfriend then, huh?"

Aurora struggled with a smile, "Yeah, I guess you are. What are you going to do about it?"

"I might just have to kiss you," he replied, doing as he said and kissing her on the lips.

* * *

**A/N:** Two more chapters until everything's over. If you'll all excuse me I'll be the crying lump in the corner. On the upside, there are plans for a whole new story in progress! (With new characters, etc.)  
**Disclaimer: **I don't own the Harry Potter universe. My OC's and the plot are the only things I can take any form of credit for.


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